
Class. 
Book. 



LETTERS 



WRITTEN IN 



THE INTERIOR OF CUBA, 



BETWEEN 



THE MOUNTAINS OF ARCANA, TO THE EAST, AND OF CUSCO, 
TO THE WEST, 



IN THE MONTHS Of 



FEBRUARY, MARCH, APRIL, AND MAY, 1828. 



Bt THE/LATE 

REV. ABiEL Abbot, d. d., 

>ASTOR OF THB FIRST CHURCH IN BETERLT, IH MASSACHtTSITM. 




BOSTON, 

B0WLE3 AND DEARBORN, 50 WASHINGTON STREJET. 

1839. 



.A 1 3 



DISTRICT OF MASSACnirSETT5, to wU : 

District Clerk's Office, 
Be it remembered, that on the eighteenth day of February, a. d. 1829, 
in the fiftythird year of the Independence of the United States of 
America, Bowles & Dearborn, of the said District, have deposited in this 
office the title of a book, the right whereof they claim as proprietors, in 
the words following, to wit : 

" Letters written in the Interior of Cuba, between the Mountains cf Arcana, 
to the East, and of Cusco, to the West, in the Months of February, March, 
April, and May, 1828. By the late Rev, Abiel Abbot, D. D., Pastor of the 
First Church in Beverly, in Massachusetts." 

In conformity to the act of the Congress of the United States, entitled 
" An act lor the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, 
charts and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during 
the times therein mentioned ;" and also to an act, entitled, " An act sup- 
plementary to an act, entitled an act for the encouragement of learning, by 
securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and propria 
etors of such copies during the times therein mentioned ; and extending the 
benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving and etching liistorica! 
and other prints." 

TNO W DAVT«? ^ ^^^^^ ^f^^^ District of ^ 
4^U, W.DAVlfe,^ Massachusetts, 



BOSTON, 
P'ess of Isaac R. Bulls &. Cu. 






9^. 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



The present is a posthumous work ; but it was 
originally designed for publication by the author, 
and was in a good degree prepared for the press at 
the time of his sudtlen and lamented death, on his 
return voyage from Guba. It had not, indeed, the 
last revision and finish of the author, a circumstance 
of unfeigned regret to all, who knew him ; but he 
had so far completed his design as to sketch the 
title page, and draw out at large the preface, which 
is contained in the present volume. With a view 
of guarding against accidents, and under a con^ 
sciousnessof the uncertainty of human life, although 
his health was nearly re-established, he wrote direc- 
tions, on the eve of his departure from Cuba, as to 
the arrangement and disposal of his manuscripts, in 
the event of his decease. Those directions have 
been implicitly followed by the friends, who have 
assumed the responsibility of the present publication. 
In all respects the manuscripts have been trans- 



iv ADVERTISEMENT. 

cribed, exactly as they were originally written, with 
the exception only of the names of persons, and a 
few slight alterations, additions of words, which had 
escaped the attention of the learned author, and 
the omission of matters purely domestic and per- 
sonal, which he probably intended to suppress. 
Some few portions of the latter are still retained, as 
they exhibit his excellent feelings, and amiable 
character, in a just light, and the occasion no 
longer requires that they should be wholly with- 
drawn from the public notice. A brief sketch of 
his life and character is also added to the present 
volume for the information of strangers, and to 
convey some general notion of his real worth, and 
blameless life, and exalted piety. 
December, 1828« 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 



OF THS LATE 



REV. DR ABBOT 



The Author of the *' Letters from Cuba" has for so many 
years occupied a distinguished rank among the Divines of New 
England, that any sketch of his life and parentage, however 
imperfect, can scarcely fail of being grateful to the public. 
Probably, at some future day, the memoirs of his life and 
character may be given to the world by some biographer, 
with that fulness and accuracy which befit his own merits, and 
may be justly required by the Society of which he was so long 
an ornament. 

He was born at Andover, in the county of Essex, (Mass.) 
on the 17th of August, 1770. His parents belonged to that 
truly respectable class, the yeomanry of New England, and in 
the bosom of his family he passed his early years, and learned 
those habits of simplicity, diligence, and religious propriety of 
conduct, which the descendants of the Puritans have main- 
tained from the first settlement of the country. He owed 
much, indeed, to the daily example of his pious parents, and 
especially, to the solicitude and instruction of his excellent mo- 
ther. After the usual preparatory studies, he was matriculated 
at Harvard University, in 1783; and having passed the pre- 
scribed period of studies there, he received his degree of 
Bachelor of Arts in the year 1787. In a class distinguished 
for talents and attainments, (and the present President Adarns 
was one of his class-mates,) he obtained a high rank, and 



VI Biographical sketch. 

received the usual collegiate honors which are awarded to supe- 
rior scholarship. His collegiate life was such as his best friends 
could wish, without blame or stain, and glided away in the en- 
joyment of the respect of his instructers, and of the esteem of 
his cotemporaries. He soon afterward became an assistant 
teacher in the academy of his native town, and began to pursue 
his theological studies under the direction of the Rev. Jonathan 
French, then minister of the parish. At the age of twenty four 
he began to preach, and at once attracted notice as an able and 
interesting preacher. He immediately received a unanimous 
call to settle as a minister in Haverhill, on the west bank of the 
Merrimack. He accepted the call, and in that flourishing and 
beautiful village, passed the next eight years of his life. It was 
at this period, that the writer of this sketch first became ac- 
quainted with him, and he can testify to the affectionate regard, 
and warm attachment of his congregation to him ; and to the 
universal respect with which he was regarded, both by the laity 
and the clergy. No circumstance whatever occurred to inter- 
rupt this harmony between the pastor and his flock, until the 
wants of a growing family, and an inadequate support com- 
pelled him, as an imperative duty, to ask a dismission. It cost 
him great anxiety, and many painful struggles, to come to such 
a result ; and the separation, which was very reluctantly granted, 
was deemed by both j)arties a matter of deep regret. He was 
soon afterwards invited to resettle in Beverly, in the parish then 
vacant by the appointment of the Rev. Dr McKean to the presi- 
dency of Bowdoin College. His talents and reputation as a 
preacher had already given him an extensive popularity ; and 
several religious societies were desirous of procuring his services. 
He, however, declined all the other offers, and accepted the call 
at Beverly, and during the residue of his life, a space of twenty- 
four years, he devoted himself with the most exemplary dili- 
gence, devotion, and success to the duties of his charge. Few 
men have enjoyed, during so long a period, such uninterrupted 
happiness in all their parochial relations. Few men have united 
such purity of life, fervor of devotion, unaffected piety, and 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. . yu 

generous courtesy, with so much intellectual attainment. Few 
men have been at once so learned and so modest ; so gentle, 
and so sincere ; so earnest for the faith once delivered to the 
saints, and yet sq meek and unobtrusive upon the feelings of 
others; so thoroughly imbued with a sense of the everlasting 
importance of Christianity, and yet so little heated by the spirit 
of proselytism ; so genuine a lover of peace, and yet so warm 
an advocate of truth. 

During the few last years of his life, Dr Abbot's heahh was 
sensibly impaired ; and he was compelled to make several dis- 
tant journeys, in the hope of regaining it. He passed the win- 
ter of 1827, 1828, in and near Charleston, South Carolina, and 
embarked for Cuba, under the advice of his friends, in the fol- 
lowing spring. His complaints being of a pulmonary nature, 
and threatening a hectic decline, it was thought that the mild 
climate of that island afforded the fairest prospect for his re- 
covery. The letters now published, were written during his 
travels on the Island, in the course of his residence there. He 
embarked in May, 1828, on his return home, and his friends 
indulged the belief that his health was almost entirely restored. 
He arrived at Charleston about the first of June, and preached 
there on the following Sunday. He sailed for New York on 
the next day; oii Tuesday he was seized with a severe pain in 
his head, and his illness, though not at first deemed dangerous, 
continued without abatement during the whole passage. He 
died on Saturday, the 7th of June, at half past twelve o'clock, 
P. M., just as. the ship came to anchor at the quarantine 
ground near the city of New York. He was able on that 
morning to dress himself and go on deck, and to take a last 
farewell look of his beloved country. His remains were de- 
posited in the cemetery on Staten Island. The funeral service 
was performed by the Rev. Mr Miller. 

The following sketch is taken from an excellent sermon 
preached by the Rev. Dr Flint before bis bereaved congrega- 
tion, on the 18th of June following. It portrays Dr Abbot's 
character with uncommon felicity and force. 



VIU BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 

" It is a grateful consideration, that in reviewing the character 
and ministry of your pastor, you have no obliquities of temper, 
no eccentricities of conduct, no extravagancies of doctrine or 
opinion to excuse or lament in him. There was nothing harsh 
or repulsive in his creed or manners. And how should there 
be, when one was modelled from the instructions, and the other 
from the character of him who bore the appellation of the 
Lamb of God, m\d on whom the spirit of heaven rested under 
the symbol of a dove ? He deemed it no sin against any law 
of God. or the example of his Master, to be a gentleman ; I do 
not mean of the school of Chesterfield, jas of hypocrisy, as of 
deceit, but as of sincerity, as of God, — of the school of St 
Paul, who exhorts a minister to be gentle towards all merij to 
be courteous, to become, as far as in uprightness he may, all 
things to all men. 

" There was an amenity and benignity in Dr Abbot's air, and 
voice, and address, exceedingly conciliating to strangers, and 
endearing to his friends. His countenance beamed with com- 
placency, and bespoke that inward satisfaction and peace 

* Which goodness bosoms over.' 
He had always something kind and courteous to say to every 
one into whose company he fell, even for a few moments; and 
no one could long remain in his society, that had a heart, who 
did not feel that he had been conversing with a man, equally 
amiable, intelligent, and gifted. The minister and the man 
were never in him at variance with each other. In his most 
playful moods there was no unbecoming levity. His sport was 
the innocence of a child, seasoned with the wit of a man, and 
guarded by the circumspection of a Christian. 

" Of his religious sentiments it is enough to say, that he called 
no man master, that he belonged to no sect but that of good 
men, — to no school, but that of Jesus Christ, and that he was 
liberal in the best sense of the term. Though he loved, like 
the eloquent preacher whose words I quote, ' to escape the 
narrow walls of a particular church, and to stand under the 
open sky, in the broad daylight, looking far and wide, seeing 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. IX 

with his own eyes, hearing with his own ears,' still he never 
thought himself called upon to denounce the opinions of others, 
and rarely, to obtrude his own upon the controverted points of 
the day. He preached, as he thought his Master would have 
him, speaking what, after diligent and prayerful inquiry, he con- 
ceived to be the truth, in love, 

" The publications of Dr Abbot are numerous and valuable. 
They all bear the stamp of a mind early imbued with the savor 
of classical studies, famil'ar with the best models of the English 
pulpit, enriched by observation and reflection, and fertile in apt 
and beautiful illustrations, — a mind susceptible of deep and 
lively impressions from all that is bright, and fair, and lovely, 
and magnificent in creation, — a mind which had found treasures 
untold in the Scriptures, and in which dwelt the words of Christ 
richly in all wisdom, whence he drew expressions and images 
that gave richness and weight to his discourses and writings, and 
often reminded his hearer or reader of Solomon's similitude of 
words fitly spoken, to apples of gold in pictures of silver ; but 
what is best of all, they evince a mind always intent upon doing 
good, and which loved and sought, uttered and enforced truth, 
only as it appeared to him to be conducive to goodness. 

" Dr Abbot was an eloquent man, as well as mighty in the 
Scriptures. If Jehovah sent Aaron to communicate his will to 
Pharaoh because he could speak well, Dr Abbot possessed this 
credential of his office in an eminent degree. His manner in 
the pulpit was singularly impressive, grave, natural, solemn — 

*Much impress'd 
Himself, as conscious of his awful charge, '>' 

And mainly anxious, that the flock he fed 
Might feel it too ; aflfectionate in look, 
And tender in address, as well becomes 
A messenger of grace to guilty men.' 

He exhibited a beautiful union of zeal with prudence, and the 
love of souls so evidently dictated his admonitions and reproofs 
to the delinquent, that his fidelity and plainness seldom gave 
• 2 



X BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 

offence, in the sick chamber and in the house of mourning, 
he was truly a son of consolation. 

"Few men have lived more endeared, or more deservedly 
dear in the more private relations of life. Like all virtuous men, 
he sought and found the best happiness which this world affords, 
in the bosom of domestic affection, in the reciprocation of those 
sacred charities and daily offices of love, which render home, 
the fireside of a christian and well ordered family, at once the 
best emblem of the mansions which await the righteous in our 
Father's house in heaven, and the best scene of preparation for 
those mansions. The yearnings of his heart to return to the 
asylum of his repose, of his purest affections and joys, are 
affectingly expressed on his arrival from Cuba at Charleston ; 
* Happy am I to touch natal soil again, and hope soon to revisit 
" homei sweet kome.''^ ' 

" I remark one trait more in these days of inestimable value 
in a minister ; his signal love of peace. No object was dearer 
to his heart than to bring ministers and the people to feel on 
this subject, as he felt. His convention sermon, the delivery of 
which was almost the last public act of his ministry, will now 
seem to his brethren, to the community, and still more to his 
flock, like the dying bequest of Jesus to his disciples : ^ Peace 
1 leave with you ; my peace I give unto you ; not as the ivorld 
giveth, give I unto you.'' No ; the world, and I grieve to say 
it, the ministers of the Prince of Peace, too many of them, 
speak a very different language and breathe a very different 
spirit. But with that dying appeal of your pastor in your 
hands, you, my brethren of this ancient and respectable society, 
will feel yourselves inexcusable in the sight of heaven, if you 
allow discord to arise among you, or division to scatter you. 
How much he was grieved by the angry disputes of the day, 
and the rending of churches and societies, appears in the fol- 
lowing extract from the letter before cited. ' Yesterday was 
the anniversary of my peace sermon before the Convention. I 
fear its gentle notes have not been re-echoed this year. There 
is no one thing that gives me so much pain in returning to my 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. Xl 

beloved country, as to think of its religious dissensions. May 
the God of peace hush them, and for ever preserve my voice 
from the notes of discord.' Happy spirit, thy voice never ut- 
tered the notes of discord, and they can never again reach thy 
ear. Thou art now joined to the sons of peace, the children 

of God,— 

• Who have no discord in their song, 
No winter ia their year.' 

Farewell, faithful servant of God ; thy warfare is accomplished, 
thy work is finished, and thy reward is sure. O God, with 
whom do rest the spirits of just men made perfect, grant that 
we who survive, may gird up the loins of our minds, — 5e sober 
and watch unto prayer, — that by diligence and perseverance in 
well doing, we may be followers of them who through faith and 
patience, are now inheriting the promises. AmenP 

To this extract, it would be injustice to the memory of the 
deceased, not to add another, from an interesting sermon of the 
Rev. Mr Bartlett, one of his most confidential friends, delivered 
on the first Sunday on which religious services were performed 
in the church after Dr Abbot's death was made known in 
Beverly. It can scarcely fail to touch every pious heart by the 
grace of the narrative, as well as the christian spirit which per- 
vades it. 

"I would, on this occasion, forbear indulging personal feel* 
ings of friendship, by attempting topourtray all the excellencies 
of .his private character. I shall narrate only one circumstance, 
which, now, I feel that I have not the liberty to conceal ; — a 
circumstance which illustrates his piety and faithfulness, his 
preparedness for death, and the justice of applying to his char- 
acter the words of the text. On a visit to him, made at his 
request, a few days before his departure to a warmer climate 
for the benefit of his health ; at a time when his physician and 
friends, and he himself, were apprehensive that the disease 
which then oppressed him vVould speedily terminate his life ; 
at this time, when the heart has no disguise, and the soul is 
anxious to utter all that it deems true and kind, important and 



Xii BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 

useful, he thus addressed me, (evidently with a wish that it 
should be remembered, and at a fit time communicated,)—* I 
believe the hour of my departure is at hand ; how near, I can- 
not say ; but not far distant is the time when I shall be in the 
immediate presence of my Maker. This impression leads me 
to look back upon my life, and inwardly upon my present state. 
In the review, I find many things to be humbled and penitent 
for, and many things to fill me with gratitude and praise. I 
have, I trust, the testimony of my heart, that my life, my best 
powers, my time, and my efforts, have, in the main, been sin- 
cerely given to God and to mankind. Of all the years of my 
life, the present, in review, gives me most pleasure. You know 
my plans and labors, and the design of them, (alluding to dis- 
courses delivered before the convention of ministers, and at the 
ordination of Rev. A. Abbot, and to certain contributions to a 
religious publication, the Christian Visitant, whose object coin- 
cided with his views, and to extend the circulation of which he 
was making great efforts.) In these I have endeavored to check 
the spirit of contention among Christians, and as a disciple of 
the Prince of Peace, to diffuse the spirit of love and peace, to 
inspire Christians with a warmer zeal for the great objects of 
religion. The efforts were great. My health, and perhaps my 
life, are the sacrifice. If the Lord will, be it so. [f ever I 
faithfully served him, it was in these services. If ever I felt 
prepared for death, it was w^ien they were finished. If ever I 
knew, and felt, the delightful import of that passage, — / am 
now ready to he offered, and the time of my departure is at 
hand; I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, 
I have kept the faith, 8^c, it was then, and it is noiv. In my 
own bosom] there is peace. Whether life or death be before 
me, all is well. I can say, the ivill of the Lord be done."* With 
the greatest serenity, he alluded to the expected issue of his 
disorder, and seemed filled with a good hope through grace of 
eternal life. He was indeed, ready to he offered, and is now 
removed, we believe, to a higher sphere, and to nobler employ- 
ment and joys." 



PREFACE BY THE AUTHOR* 



In October last, the writer, by the advice of his physician, 
sought the restoring influence of a mild climate. On the 29th 
of that month, he sailed for South Carolina, and passed three 
months in Charleston, on John's Island, and the banks of Cooper 
river. 

With improved health he sailed for Cuba, and arrived in 
Matanzas on the 9th of February. The three following weeks 
he spent in the charming partidos of Sumidero and Lemonal, 
enjoying facilities for examining that important district of the 
island from the tops of the Arcana to the bays of Cardenas 
and Camiraoca, from Rio Nuevo to the romantic Canimar, and 
bay of Matanzas. 

The two following weeks were spent in Matanzas and its 
vicinity, with equal advantages. 

The sixth week was passed on the way to Havana, and in 
that city ; and the months following in the vast garden of the 
island, lying between Havana and the mountains of Cusco, 
and the southern and northern waters, which wash the shores of 
that important section of the island. 

He has ridden chiefly on horseback, and, most of the dis- 
tance but once over the same road, more than eight hundred 
miles ; and, strictly reckoning short excursions, a thousand miles. 
Through a generous kindness, certainly unparalleled in any other 
country, he has been attended almost constantly, by one or 
more gentleman, familiar with the tongues of the island, and 



XIV PIIEFACE. 

often by parties, directing and facilitating his inquiries. The 
letters were written while the views which they attempt to pic- 
ture, were before him, or fresh in his mind. They have, how- 
ever, been subjected to a careful correction in subsequent addi- 
tional lights. Opinions have been formed, and on further in- 
quiry abandoned, or materially modified. 

The considerable section of this important island, subjected 
to his inspection, has been a continuous scene of delightful 
novelties, whether examining the sterile mountain, or the fertile 
and cultivated, the forest, or plains covered with coffee trees in 
bloom, or young cherry, with cane falling at the stroke of the 
machet, or springing for a new crop, or the bateys of the plan- 
tations, and the broad and extensive avenues which intersect 
them, rich with shade and flowers, and fruits in almost infinite 
variety. Often from the tops of mountains has he looked into 
two seas; and he has descended into deep hollows, and deeper 
caves, and surveyed their extensive halls of pendant or erect 
stalactites and unstained petrifactions, glittering with reflected 
light. 

To the important subject of population, he has directed his 
attention, and to the constituent proportions of white and 
colored, of free and slave ; and to the manners and customs, and 
moral condition of the country. 

He has been sparing of remarks as to the political state and 
prospects of the island. He believes that high destinies are 
before these islanders, rich in 6,800 square leagues of fertile 
soil, and, comparatively with other slave-holding islands, strong 
in lis free population, and a numerous yeomanry, armed and 
mounted. But they are not ripe for change. Remaining un- 
oppressed, the mixed population will become more homogene- 
ous, and patriotic ; and delay may prepare them ultimately, 
with union, with wisdom, and safety, to assume an attitude as 
dignified as their numbers, resources, and relative position en- 
title them to take. 

To these interesting islanders he bids adieu, with emotions of 



PREFACE. XV 

the sincerest gratitude for their hospitality and friendship, and 
with fervent prayers for their peace and prosperity. 

He expects a liberal indulgence from the best informed in 
Cuba affairs, and from the public, as the subjects he has touch- 
ed are numerous, and he has not had the advantage of the re- 
marks on the interior of any preceding traveller. The pic- 
tures he has given, are of things which were immediately 
before him, as exact in circumstance, and as true to the life as 
his pencil could pourtray; and the statement of facts is correct 
according to his conviction. For he believes that a traveller is 
as much obliged to regard the truth, as a witness under oath in 
a court of justice. 



■•'«. 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 



LETTER I. 

TO MRS E A 



Matanzas, Feb. 14th, 1828. 

On the 8th of February, my dear friend, we sailed for Ma- 
tanzas, and in the morning of the seventh day after leaving 
Charleston, we descried the high hills of Cuba. The first 
object discovered, was a circular mount, back of Matanzas, 
called the Pan. As we drew nearer, a beautiful profile of hills 
rose to the eye, stretching itself far to the windward and lee- 
ward. We at length entered between the capes, into a deep 
and spacious bay, six miles from the town of Matanzas. It was 
then about two o'clock. If we had been about two hours 
later, we might have crossed the shot of a Mexican privateer 
and a Spanish vessel, which had a rencontre at the mouth of 
the harbor. The Spanish captain, after seven shot, abandoned 
his vessel in his boat with five men, and fled to the shore. 
These circumstances were stated to us by a gentleman, who 
witnessed the action, and was obliged to sheer off in his own 
vessel, to avoid the flying shot. 

The first near view of land was not very promising. It was 
covered with a brushy growth, with scarcely a stem of any size. 
The hill on the right was cleared, and crowned with one or 
two seats of some taste, though too far to be seen to advantage. 
Here and there on the shore, which has a uniform appearance, 
lime-rock rising a few feet above the water, is seen a small cot- 
1 



Si LETTERS PROM CUBA. 

tage, probably the humble abode of fishermen, thatched with 
palm leaves, and saddled with palm bark. So far as I 
could see, the shore is rock, as just described, everywhere 
presenting a tremendous landing for a vessel driven by a 
tempest. 

The first thing discovered as you approach the town, is a 
fleet of commercial vessels, at anchor in the bottom of the bay, 
from a half mile to a mile from the warehouses. Nearer the 
water is shoal, and there is no wharf for the accommodation of 
commerce. A mole, indeed, is begun, which runs in a straight 
line for deep water ; but it advances very slowly. It is narrow, 
but neatly made of faced stone, and at some future day, will be 
the depot of immense wealth. It is a healthful spot, fanned 
freely by land and sea breezes, and surrounded by a coun- 
try of inexhaustible fertility. It should seem, that commerce 
must ultimately flow to a spot so safe and commodious, in pre- 
ference to the Havana, that aceldama of seamen. 

We came to anchor in the midst of vessels of all nations, 
and the hum of all tongues 5 and soon we discovered the cus- 
tom house barge, with ten or a dozen oars, with an awning for 
the men of authority, and its gay streamer, rapidly advancing 
from the town. The vessel had been prepared for the visit. 
The decks were scoured, every rope in coil, the pennon float- 
ing, the banner displayed. In the cabin too, the carpets were 
laid, and the wine prepared, and the passengers shaven and 
adorned. The captain, physician, and interpreter, were soon 
on deck, making inquiries after our health, remarking the num- 
ber of passengers, and calling for our passports. For a very 
sufficient reason we had none to present ; there was no Spanish 
consul at Charleston. A certificate of the fact was presented ; 
but we were required to remain on board till the pleasure of 
the Governor should be known. 

Soon, however, my friend, Mr B., heard of my situation, 
and called on his Excellency, and with Mr W., came to 
my relief. These gentlemen were lads in Haverhill, when I 



LETTERS FROM CUBA* 3 

left that place, and it was truly delightful to be received by 
them with a cheering welcome, evincing a vivid recollection of 
their early friend, and of slight favors conferred when they 
were at school. There is moral point in the fact, that a little 
fruit bestowed on the hoy, should be returned by the man in 
months of generous hospitality and substantial friendship. 

It is but a small part of the town of Matanzas, which is seen 
from the bay, and this lies low, skirting the water. The arches 
of the custom house attract the eye, and a {qvj other buildings 
of good size and appearance ; the rest is of humbld show. 
But if there be nothing of grandeur in the architecture, there 
is enough of the novel and grotesque, to seize the whole atten- 
tion of the stranger, the moment he steps on the mole, and 
into the street. There had been a small shower, and we 
seemed treading on mortar in the streets. The buildings were 
a motley group of all sizes, and of various forms and roofs. 
The Spanish visage and costume, however, strike you with 
irresistible humor. It seems a scene of masquerade, and as if 
all are striving to amuse by the extravagance and oddity of 
their appearance. Here, is ambling by you a Don, with a spur 
on his shoe, his horse's head low, and his tail tied up in a club ; 
there, comes a volante with huge wheels, highly adorned with 
silver plate, with a boot of broadcloth hitched to the top of the 
vehicle, as if there were nuns or donnas within, not to be seen 
by vulgar eyes. This heavy carriage is sometimes drawn by 
one horse, and sometimes by two, with a postillion in livery, 
and jack-boots reaching almost to his hips, with a monstrous 
spur at his heel, and a short whip in his hand, both very freely 
applied. Sometimes, if the sun be hid, the boot or curtain is 
dropped, discovering to you two or three gaily dressed and 
laughing girls, or one or two grave men, lounging in the ample 
chaise body, for this is the form of the carriage. You with- 
draw your eyes from the volanle, to gaze on a vehicle of an hum- 
bler character, on the clumsy cart, with large wheels and a 
rude body, formed of skins, and perhaps filled with corn, each 



4 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

ear covered with a thin coat of husks, the state in which thef 
preserve this grain. It is drawn by oxen most strangely har- 
nessed. 

A yoke is placed behind their horns at the root, and so fixed 
to them with fillets and ropes, that they draw or push by their 
horns without chafing. A rope or thong leads from that gear 
to the nostril, which is perforated to receive it. A rope thus 
fastened to the nose of each ox, is sometimes seen in the hand 
of a man leading the team, as we lead a horse by the bridle : 
and sometimes the teamster holds the rope in his hand, and 
walks by the side of the cattle, goading the animals with a ten- 
foot pole. 

There is an infinite variety of caparison to their riding 
horses, from saddle of leather and plaited stirrup, to a bed of 
straw tied on by a rope. Their bridles are as various, with and 
without bit, of leather, rope, and braided grass. But what 
strikes the stranger with surprise, almost rising into a nervous 
feeling, is the constant sight of men in armor. It seems as if 
it was a fime of war, and every horseman a vidette. The 
broad sword dangles by the side of the gentleman, and holsters 
are inseparable from his saddle. The simplest countryman 
on his straw saddle, belts on his rude cutlass ; and every man 
with a skin less dark than an African, appears ready for en- 
counter. 

We passed a small distance, and entered Mr B.'s warehouse 
and bachelor's hall, in what I believe, is called the American 
Stand. His partner, Mr H., and Mr B. formerly of Bever- 
ly, and others speaking good English, gave a New England 
appearance to things, except that strange sights were passing 
in the street. 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

LETTER IT. 

TO MRS E A 



La Carolina Feb. 17th, 1828. 
You will be anxious to receive the earliest impressions upon 
my mind in my present very interesting situation. For this 
reason I retire after some fatigue to devote an hour before I 
sleep, to prepare a hasty sketch of a day, which will go to 
Matanzas tomorrow morning, and thence to America on Tues- 
day. 

Last evening I spent in the Bachelor's Hall of Mr B. in 
Matanzas. After a cold cut in the hall, I retired to bed, but 
spent an hour in reading the bushel of w^elcome letters from 
New England. To their contents I shall not have time partic- 
ularly to allude. About 11 o'clock 1 threw myself into a pa- 
vilioned bed, the substratum being little more than a sacking 
bottom, and the covering a sheet, with sometimes the flap of a 
blanket ; the window half up, and the mercury with a fine sea- 
breeze at 75°. I had a delightful night. About five in the 
morning, the church-bell tolled for prayers. In about twenty 
minutes we rose, took a cup of coffee, the very quintessence of 
the island staple, without any accompaniment. At dawning, 
the servants took up my baggage, and we repaired to the mole, 
where the watermen were waiting, and we started down the 
bay, to the side of the Stranger, and thence entered the most 
romantic river, I should say, that ever was seen — only that I 
cannot speak confidently as to that point, there being many ro- 
mantic rivers which I never have seen. The mouth of it is 
guarded by a Spanish fort, and the solitary sentinel was pacing 
his round with a gun on his shoulder, and a high cap on his head. 
Whether it was that we were rowed by bargemen belonging to 
the Custom-House, or that we made so innocent an appearance, 
I cannot say, but we unexpectedly were suffered to pass without 
a hail. A jest, in Spanish, however, was sent into the fort by one 



6 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

of the rowers, and we shot up this enchanting stream. The 
tide in the river is but two feet, and in the bay, little more. 
Our course was instantly walled in by a lofty bank of nature's 
masonry, sometimes almost perpendicular, and sometimes with 
a precipitous slope, 1 conjecture, fifty, seventyfive, and a hundred 
feet high. But imagine not that these beetling cliffs appeared 
in dreary, naked majesty, blackening in a tropical sun. From 
a few feet in the water, to the top of the height, is a malted 
growth of cane, and brush, and trees, glossy and brilliant with 
foliage and flowers, not a plant of which but was a stranger to 
my eyes. Many of the trees were exceedingly beautiful. The 
red mango tree runs high with a branchy top, and is as gay and 
thick with flowers, as an apple-tree in a New England spring. 
The mahawa has something of a catalpa top, trunk and limb, 
with a gay red flower, on some of the trees, and a yellow flower 
on others ; and what struck me as a curious anomaly, on some 
trees were seen flowers, some perfectly red, and some perfect- 
ly yellow, so growing naturally, and not by innoculation. In 
crevices of the rocks, you occasionally discover natural bee- 
hives, which are found filled with honey, in situations difficult 
for the human robber to disturb their busy and well ordered 
commonwealth. The turns in this riVer are frequent, present- 
ing the most diversified prospects ; the bank, now curving into 
an amphitheatre, and now fluted in the most beautiful swells 
and hollows, as if the hand of art had been employed. Now 
you see a little hut of wattled walls and thatched roof, and a 
narrow bank of a rod or two, flourishing with great beds of sal- 
lads and cabbages, luxuriant in spite of shade. Here runs into 
the water a little close fence to wall the pigs from the river, 
while they enjoy the water, and there a still closer fence, to in- 
close the fishes, probably at the recess of the scanty tide. A 
duck came swimming along our passage so fearlessly, that the 
bargeman might almost have saluted him with his oar, and, 
when so near, dipping only, not flying. His form was different 
from all the ducks I have seen. Various birds appeared on wing, 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 7 

and perch, and on the water, whose forms, and feathers, and 
names, were all new to me. But, I must not be minute. We 
at length, after a delightful passage, in the gray of the morning 
and early sunrise arrived at the head of our beatable naviga- 
tion. Here we found a number of stores, and boats for the 
accommodation of the produce of neighboring plantations. 
Large quantities of sugar, coffee and molasses are here deposit- 
ed and thence floated to Matanzas. In the principal store we 
reposed a little while, waiting for our equipage, which had not 
yet arrived. I was struck with the appearance of the different 
negroes at work, letting bags of coffee down an inclined plane 
of twelve or fifteen feet to fill a boat. They were generally 
furnished whh trousers, but their whole contour above the hip, 
was in an exact state for the study of the painter. I have 
thought that the negroes in Cuba, if I can so soon judge, are 
not generally so stout and muscular, as in South Carolina. 
Some are quite small and short, and some are marked as Afri- 
cans by their tattooed faces and breasts. In this place, while 
we were waiting, there arrived three Americans, one of whom 

recognised me. He was from M d, a parishioner of our 

friend the Rev. J. B. and a particular friend, as all his parishion- 
ers are. 1 doubt not he is a fine fellow ; he has great fluency 
of speech, and a great deal of sailor-like frankness and good 
feeling. He was on his way to see his old townsman Mr K., 
of whom mention is made in one of your letters. At length 
we started in our volante, which I will take a future opportuni- 
ty of describing when I have more time, as it is one of the 
most singular contrivances for transporting the human frame. 
On we pushed, with our heavy, easy carriage, with two 
horses, a blackey astride one of them, and a broadcloth screen 
extended from the place where our dasher is, to the top of the 
vehicle, to protect the passengers from an intense blazing sun. 
We soon came to plantations, now of cofl^ee, now of sugar. The 
charms of the prospect at every rood, and the variety, it is out 
of my power to describe, in what of time and paper is left to 



8 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

me» Carolina in its general appearance is lifeless and dail, 
compared with almost any spot, since the plantations com- 
menced. You often see a beautiful white stone wall, and 
sometimes faced, inclosing the plantation from the highway ; 
sometimes a picket fence, withed to a single slab, by a cord 
cut from the forest, as big as your finger, and drawn as neatly 
as a cord of hemp ; sometimes a living hedge of stakes driven 
like our willows in a wet place ; sometimes a beautiful lime 
hedge is the fence, and rarely the awkward zigzag Virginia 
fence, as it is called in the United States, employed as a lively 
figure to indicate the course of one who sees double. The 
road is often adorned by a row of those charming and invalu- 
able trees, the palm. These grow to a great height, with a 
trunk as smooth and polished as if it came from the turner's 
lathe, from the root to the top, where a few feet of the stem 
are of a rich, green color, surmounted by a tuft of leaves, 
which remind you of the plumes adorning the bonnet of a 
knight of high degree. These often line the broad avenue 
which leads from the highway to the planter's mansion. They 
take infinitely more pains to adorn these avenues, than in South 
Carolina, a few at Goose-Creek excepted. I observed one 
avenue of lofty bamboos, thickly set, in such a manner as to 
form a beautiful Gothic arch. For beauty nothing could ex- 
ceed it, except the live oak. After travelling three or four 
miles, my friend turned in at his friend's, Mr M.'s, a hospitable 
German. It seems as if the garden of Eden could not be 
more beautiful than his grounds. His buildings are handsome, 
and his house, with piazzas on every side, spacious and airy. 
Everything around looks like a garden, and borders of wild 
ipecacuanha, in red blossoms, skirt his walks, and orange trees 
full of ready fi-uit, alternating with trees still more ornamental, 
form his avenues. He was not at home. Mr B. with a liber- 
ty freely given, and freely taken, ordered his horses out, and a 
breakfast, as quick as possible. We had in a few minutes, 
broiled and fricaseed chickens, and everything else which the 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 9 

heart could wish. Mr B. next ordered two mules to replace 
his horses, and at this crisis the host arrived to approve with a 
cordial greeting all that had been done, and all that was to be 
done. We started on our last stage, and passed many beauti- 
ful plantations, which succeed each other, with little or no in- 
termission. The roads for much of the way, are excellent: 
sometimes the limestone renders it rough ; but a lusty rock is 
encountered often without fear by the sturdy wheel, and with- 
out serious inconvenience to the rider, so singularly constructed 
is the carriage. 

Mr B.'s place is very delightful. A fine walk, with a row 
of palm trees fronts his place ; an avenue of the same leads to 
his new and handsome buildings. These I shall describe here- 
after, as also the grounds. A semicircle of beautiful hills at a 
few miles distance seems to enclose his prospect. This plan- 
tation is yet young, and every year is filling up a picture, which 
any description of mine will fail to present in all its beauties. 
My welcome so cordial from the host, has been as much so 
from his lady. Three sweet children are sporting about the 
floor, and young Mr I. a great invalid, is receiving the same 
generous hospitality with myself. With a neighboring planter 
we sat down to a various and excellent dinner, which closed 
with a dessert of pines and oranges, figs and raisins, plantains 
and olives, and delicious guava jelly. Such is the rapid 
sketch of my present situation. I bless God for his mercy 
by sea and by land ; I rejoice in ray removal to a still more 
auspicious climate, and to a world inexhaustible in novelties. 
1 see nothing old ; all is new. It is, as if I were transferred 
to a new world — to Jupiter or Saturn, to Venus for beauty, to 
Mars or Mercury for fervor and glow. It seems like gentle 
summer, fanned with refreshing gales. My spirits are cheerful 
and equable, and I know not at present anything that I wish alter- 
ed, except that my heart may be more grateful to God and man. 



10 I.ETTERS FIIOM CUEA. 

LETTER III. 

TO MRS E A 



La Carolina, Feb. 18th, 182^, 
As you approach this plantation, 3^ou discover one of the 
most beautiful and grand objects, that exuberant nature produces 
in this favored region, — a cotton tree. It is not rare, almost 
every estate reserves one or more of these trees, in some 
favorable situation to gratify the eye; for it answers no other 
human purpose,— it is neither timber nor fuel. The cotton, 
however, I should not forget, which it yields in a very scanty 
crop, is sometimes used to stuff a pillow. One on the Santa 
Ana Estate, towers a hundred feet towards heaven, sixtyfive of 
which, ascertained by admeasurement, are a smooth cylinder, 
without a limb or knot, tvventyseven and a half feet in circum- 
ference, six feet from the ground ; and near the base, where 
it spreads itself in the direction of its principal roots, like a 
giant bracing himself against the tempest, the fluted trunk has 
been measured, fortysix feet and a half. Were there nothing 
to be seen but this noble shaft, with its white smooth surface, it 
would excite admiration. But at the height already mentioned, 
it stretches forth its arms, of a size for timber, horizontally and 
symmetrically, and forms a top, for width and grandeur worthy 
of the trunk below, it has been measured and found to cover 
a diameter of one hundred and sixtyfive feet. 

This immense tree is a world by itself, and is peopled by its 
n:iillions. The wild pine-apple colonizes its top. Bajuca, or 
vines, vegetate on its extended limbs, and run downward to the 
earth coiling like ropes on the ground, which the thirsty travel- 
ler, when water fails him in this land of rare springs, cuts, and 
the sweet milky juice proves to him a delightful beverage. 
These vines, very possibly, answer another purpose of nature, 
who regards with tenderness her humblest offspring. The 
mice and rats and opossum, who might find it difHcult to ascend 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. H 

the plain surface of the trunk, may easily ascend the^.se natural 
shrouds, and drink out of the cups of the pines, which stretch 
their leaves to catch and concentrate the rains and dews in those 
natural reservoirs. — I said this tree was peopled by its miHic'is. 
This is quite within bounds; you may see among its branches- 
the commonwealths of the comajen, or wood-louse. They are 
not peculiar to this tree. Their large black cities are attached 
to the body or some limb, or safely repose in some fork of the 
tree, where they are a Chinese population, innumerable. This 
insect, about the size of a flea, forms a covered way of a 
mortar of its own, down the trunk to the ground ; and as they 
have different public roads, it is probable that some are for 
ascending, and others for descending, so that the travellers may 
not incommode each other. This insect is harmless, and their 
populous nests are. carried whole to the poultry yard, where I 
have seen hundreds, young and old, enjoying the repast, with 
all the glee of turkeys in grasshopper time. 

On the subject of insects, I will take this opportunity of 
mentioning the greatest annoyance to the planter, the bibiagua, 
an ant of half the size of our black ant. These little animals, 
perfectly insignificant, considered individually, are powerful and 
formidable in their congregated, or social strength. On the 
Santa Ana Estate, I witnessed the attempt to disinter and 
exterminate a tribe of these enemies. Near the house was 
planted a hedge of campeachy ; it is young and flourishing. 
One morning, Mr S. discovered signs of a nocturnal incur- 
sion. Leaves were dropped across the path, and the busy 
laborers had stripped the campeachy hedge of every leaf for 
an extent of ten or twelve feet. The retreating enemies were 
traced by their path some rods on the surface to their entrance 
into a covered way. Here commenced the digging, and their 
passage, or arched way, was followed to the depth of sometimes 
two feet, and sometimes one, until it terminated in a spacious 
city. This was a collection of cells, in which were deposited 
masses of eggs, and astonishing numbers of the common 



12 / LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

bibiaguas./^ith a sprinkling of probably queen or mother ants, 
as we y^idged them to be, from their royal size, with wings an 
inch /and a half long. They were here in no small confusion, 
as /a stout negro had plunged into the very heart of their citadel, 
•and disregarding their bite, was transferring them, with hand 
and shovel, to the blazing fire near by, and sometimes kindling 
with husks a quick flame to destroy them in their cells. 

We should, by stopping here, have but a limited view of this 
ingenious and populous nadon. Its metes and bounds, its 
geographical limits, it is difficult to ascertain with accuracy, as 
they are subterranean in their highways, and in a great measure 
in their dwellings. Several cities and villages have been dis- 
covered, and the subterranean passages, connecting them in one 
commonwealth. 1 should think that from the entrance into the 
ground to which the marauders of the campeachy were traced, 
to the last town as yet discovered, may be twenty or thirty rods ; 
and who can tell where we are to look for their metropolis or 
frontiers ? 

This devouring insect assails the staple ; and they often turn 
a considerable space in a coffee-field into a desert. Sweet 
oranges, potatoes, and many of the ornamental trees and shrubs, 
they strip of their foliage. A steady war of extermination is 
carried on against them ; and on one estate of less than a 
hundred negroes, two of the laborers were two years constantly 
employed ; and, finally, pretty well succeeded in destroying this 
formidable enemy. 



LETTER IV. 

TO MRS E A ■■— . 

La Carolina, Feb. 19th, 1S2S. 



On Mr T.'s estate, is building and almost done, a fine square 
of negro huts or boheas. The exterior wall is ten feet high» 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 13 

and the interior is a little lower, so as to convey off the rain. 
It is of stone, set in mortar. The apartments are sufficiently 
large, with a door to shut at pleasure, and a grated window to 
let in the light and air, and to let out the smoke of the fire, 
which, within the tropics, they love to light up. The interior 
walls are plastered, and are not only comfortable, but hand- 
some. The general cook's establishment fronts the gateway 
entrance ; and at night that gateway is effectually closed. 
The neatness, and even beauty and comfort of these dwellings, 
recommend the plan to general use ; yet in a country where 
runaways are so difficult to reclaim from the forests and caves, 
its advantages for securing the tenants from nocturnal rambles, 
and from temptations to desert, are its highest recommendation. 
This security is as advantageous to the slaves as to the masters ; 
and theretlDre is matter of humanity. It promotes regularity of 
conduct and habits ; prevents thieving and conspiracy, and 
most of those delinquencies, which bring upon them the hunt 
of men and dogs, the lash, and sometimes the punishment of 
death. 

On this estate there is a handsome coffee store, eightyfour 
feet square, and twentytwo feet high. Like most of the pru- 
dent planters, his domestic accommodation seems to be the last 
thing provided for. At present, he lives under a palm-covered 
roof, where the polished manners and hospitality of the family 
are as delightful, as under ceiled rafters and arched domes. 

From Mr T.'s, at an early hour, a party of six gentle- 
men started for the bay of Cardenas. To bring the fatigue 
within the capacity of my invalid strength, Mr S. took me 
in his volante ; the rest were on horses. We passed a number 
of estates, the most considerable were those of Mr C. and 
Mr P. ; and over a road in general excellent, here and 
there rocky, we arrived at the bay in about fifteen miles. We 
breakfasted at a tavern store, kept by a Guachenango, {pron, 
Washenango,) a Creole of Indian and European parents* 



14 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

Over his counter was suspended a sign, inscribed with YA- 
NO-SE-FiA-AQUI— " Now, they do not credit here." 

It is a noble bay ; stretching inward from the capes, twelve 
miles ; the capes, Point Yecaco, and Point Piadra, are nine 
miles distant from each other. The eastern shore is seen at a 
great distance, scarcely rising above the water. Keys skirt 
the entrance of the bay, probably breaking the current, which 
sets to the west, and preventing it from swelling the waters in 
the bay, where the tide rises but two feet. An island of some 
extent lies off in the bay, presentirig a bluff of twenty or thirty 
feet high ; and under its protection, a vessel lay at anchor, 
possibly one of those rovers again waking up, which have been 
put to sleep by the terror of our navy. Certain it is, that these 
waters have been frequented by those pirates, who, for a time, 
were the scourge of our commerce, and the destruction of 
many of our seamen. The shops at Cardenas, were at that 
time filled with valuable goods, and mules and horses passed to 
JVlatanzas and the interior, richly freighted, while theT drivers 
could answer no questions, except evasively, that they were the 
cargo of a wrecked vessel. I shall reserve my fiu'ther re- 
marks on the bay, and our return to Mv T.'s, to a future 
letter. 

In the course of the day, from conversation among the plan- 
ters, 1 learned that the negroes from Africa have all a national 
character of some strength. " Tiie Carrobalees are proud ; the 
Mandingos excellent laborers, large, able and contented, and 
numerous ; the Gangars, thieves and apt to run, yet good ; 
they are the most numerous. The Congos are of small stature. 
The Ashantees very rare here, because powerful in their own 
country. The Fantee is revengeful, and apt to run away. 
Those from the Gold Coast, are powerful. The Ebros are less 
black than others, and of lighter wool. 

It is a curious fact in the history of the black man, that it 
requires one third more medicine to affect his constitution, than 
that of a white man. His blood is said to be very pure, owing 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 15 

to the simplicity of his diet, and the regularity of his exercise. 
A wound on a black man heals quickly. The diseases to 
which they are most liable, are those of the bowels. They are 
considerably affected by worms — the tape worm is not unfre- 
quent. A very effectual remedy for worms, the tape worm 
and all, is spirits of turpentine, a third to a whole glass, followed 
in a few hours by a cathartic. 

It is difficult to preserve any arrangement, as to remarks on 
various subjects, occasionally touched in conversation by intel- 
ligent men. Lest anything valuable should be lost, I shall re- 
cord them as they occur. 

The ecclesiastical state of this important and opulent island, 
developes itself to the stranger gradually, by facts, some of 
which are freely reported on Spanish authority, as well as on 
European and American. A very singular fact in a Catholic 
country, holding the celibacy of the clergy as indispensable, is, 
that most of the padres have families ; and few of them are 
bashful on the subject, or think it necessary to speak of their 
housekeeper as a sister or cousin, or of the children that play 
about the house, as nephews and nieces. They even go fur- 
ther, and will sometimes reason on the subject, and defend 
habits contrary to the ecclesiastical authority, upon principles of 
nature and common sense. Certainly an unnatural and un- 
scriptural imposition, which is so unblushingly evaded, should 
not be attempted to be enforced ; but should be revoked. The 
fearless violation of one law of a community weakens the au- 
thority of the whole statute book. 

Of some of the padres, the morals, in other respects, are 
quite as glaringly corrupt, as in the particular just mentioned. 
They are bold, eager, and contemptible gamblers. They go 
from the table to mass, and from mass to the table ; and 1 do 
not speak on light authority, nor without unquestionable exam- 
ples, when I say, that some have been known to delay mass, 
to see the end of a cock fight, and to pit their own cock against 



16 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

the cock of any slave in the circle who has an ounce or a rial 
to lay on his head. 

Such degradation of the sacred ermine is attended with con- 
tempt, and with something like a sentiment of indignation in 
the community, and this without distinction of European, Ame- 
rican or Creole. It has the worst influence on the cause of 
religion, whether Catholic or Protestant. The influence of the 
clergy is on the wane, and from the habit of mankind, how- 
ever unreasonable, of confounding the religion itself with 
the character of its professors, and especially of its ministers, 
it brings Christianity, heaven-born and spotless as it is,, into 
suspicion, and exposes it to desertion by the young and unre- 
flecting. It is confidently believed by those who are better in- 
formed than strangers can be, that infidelity is becoming com- 
mon in the island, more especially among the rising generation; 
that there is observable a growing neglect of forms; that in 
processions with the Host, the sons often remain covered, 
where their fathers spread a white handkerchief on any spot, 
dry or wet, in the street, and dropped on their knees ; that 
even when they conform to the customs of their fathers and of 
the church, in faith or ceremony, they often speak of both as 
superstitious. It is much to be feared that in bounding from 
the indefensible things in the catholic form of Christianity, they 
may depart also, from the faith once delivered to the saints, in 
its divine form, expressed in words which the Holy Ghost has 
taught. May God avert such evils, and the scenes witnessed 
in France be prevented in Spain and her colonies. 

There are two distinct codes of laws, which govern the island, 
the civil and ecclesiastical. By the latter, baptism is required 
of blacks and whites. In regard to foreigners, however, this 
law is not rigidly enforced. Neglect is winked at, and passes 
sub silentio. The padres, the best of them, stand ready to 
give certificates of christian character, without much examina- 
tion into faith or manners, more especially if the applicant has 
subscribed to the building of the city or village church. Pecu- 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 17 

niary evidence is highly satisfactory, and with many Weighs 
heavier than judgment, faith, and the love of God. The 
padres have an interest in baptism, receiving seventyfive cents 
fee, a part of which goes to the bishop, and the rest is their 
perquisite. And this is very considerable when whole planta- 
tions are baptized. There is a season of the year, I know not 
which, when for a few days they are entitled to but three bits, 
that is, half price. If, however, the prudent planter would 
avail himself of this economy, the padre is usually mal, indis- 
posed, or engaged in another direction. Some planters, who 
wish to conform to the law, and yet do it prudently, have a 
negotiation with the padre ; and he performs the service by job 
and at a discount. 

While many of the padres fully deserve the censures lavished 
upon them, some are said to be amiable, and in general correct 
and respectable men. I hear the bishop of Havana spoken of 
in terms of high respect. His princely income is munificently 
expended in mercy, and in beautifying the city, where he re- 
sides. He is said to be a man of liberal views ; too much so 
to suit the high toned feeling of ecclesiastics at home and in 
the colony. He has been once recalled; but the sentiment of 
the community was in his favor, and certificates from physicians 
that it would be dangerous to his health to remove, have pre- 
served him to the diocese. His name is Juan Diaz de Es- 
palando. 

From a person interested in the transaction, I have a curious 
fact relative to the removal of the bones of Lieut. Allen, to the 
United States. He fell in an action with the pirates, and was 
buried at Camiraoca. As he was buried with Catholic rites, he 
could not be disinterred without them. An order was obtained 
from the ecclesiastical authority, with a proviso, that no other 
bones but his should be disturbed. On calling on the eccle- 
siastic at Matanzas, the merchant to whom the business was 
entrusted, readily obtained his services by the promise of six 
ounces ; and as he threw no difficulties in the way, and through- 
3 



18 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

out the whole, conducted so handsomely, he paid him nine 
ounces, that is, one hundred and fiftythree dollars. 



LETTER v.. 

TO MRS E A . 

La Carohu-a, Feb. 23d, 1828, 
It will be perfectly in vain for nfie to think of responding to 
all the kind letters I have received from home, seriatim, or 
individually. A precious pile of nineteen lies before me, and 
all from persons whom I sincerely love, and to each one of 
whom, I feel grateful for their affectionate contributions to my 
comfort in a strange land. I persuade myself, that the dear 
group of my correspondents under my own roof, will cheerfully 
rest satisfied with a family letter, addressed to their common 
and loved head y and that through this simple medium they will 
indulge me to breathe upon them the glowing affection of my 
parental bosom, and invoke upon them, as I most devoutly do, 
the blessing of our common Father in heaven. 

Again, I am promised the iiivor of a friend to call at my 
residence in Beverly, to deliver my letters, and to answer your 
thousand questions concerning the husband and father. The 
visit of Mr H. I hope you have already received, or will 
shortly receive. This will be presented to you by Mr W. 
of P. one of the pleasant passengers with whom I embarked 
at Charleston, for Matanzas, and who has conducted himself 
towards me with the kindness and courtesy, which deserves the 
best acknowledgments of my family. Whatever of fruit, or 
liquorsy or offices of support and accommodation, could coiitri- 
bute to ray comfort on the voyage, Mr W. has rendered ; and 
his last ofHce of kindness, the calling upon me in the country, 
twentyone miles from Matanzas, to take my letters and com.- 
niands to you, is best of all 



LETTERS FROM CUBx\. 19 

Tomorrow will complete my first week in the interior, and 
today, my first week in the island. I am perplexed to know 
what to say, and what to omit of this week's history. First of 
all; however, as it is the point of chief interest to us all, let me 
mention its influence on my health. I have no doubt that it is 
the most favorable week, in this regard, since I left New England. 
I have not been weighed since I left Charleston ; but I am satis- 
fied I have improved in health. I sleep more naturally, and 
soundly, and uniformly. My spirits are cheerful and equable. 
My appetite is uniformly good. * * «- -s^ * * This 
brief statement is worth the voyage to the island to attain, even 
though my cough is not entirely' quieted, nor my strength fully 
restored. I bless God that he has guided my steeps to this 
delightful spot, and these fragrant and balmy air? ; and that he 
has in this neighborhood, and more especially in this family, 
introduced me to the most cheering enjoyments of hospitality 
and friendship. 

Will you have the routine of a day at La Carolina ? I rise a 
little after day-break, and retire to my bed a little after nine in 
the evening. At sunrise I observe the thermometer, and find 
the mercury at from 64 to 74° ; in the course of the day it may 
rise to 87° ; but we are comfortable on account of delightful 
breezes. At sunrise, a servant brings to my chamber a cup of 
coffee, which, diluted somewhat from the essence drank by the 
family, I find delicious and refreshing, and not followed by the 
ill effects, which deterred me from the use of it in New Eng- 
land. This is immediately followed by fruit, the correcler of 
whatever evils 1 might otherwise have felt from the coffee. The 
fruit is a plate of bananas and oranges. The first of these is 
now become almost preferred, by me, to the last. It is said not 
to agree with all persons; but I am persuaded that it is as sal- 
utary as it is pleasant to me. The orange in the morning is 
undoubtedly excellent in its effects, and I need not tell A. 
how delicious it is ; nor need I awaken her regrets, and those 
of the other listeners to the reading of this letter, by remarking 



20 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

that 1 see this delightfu] fruit perishing on the ground and trees, 
for the want of use. After my beverage and fruit, I sit down 
to my table and perform what of writing I can till breakfast, as 
it is a season as delightful as you can well imagine. About 
nine o'clock we meet in the breakfast parlor, and sit down to a 
table of various meats, sweet potatoes, hominy, johnny-cakes, 
New England bread and butter, (family bread,) eggs, variously 
cooked, and long cork claret. As a parting ceremony at the 
breakfast table, not an attendant, or an essential as with us, a 
cup of coffee is proffered, but I think not generally accepted. 
By the way, as wine always excited coughing in me, you may 
fear-nie-long cork in this meal/ But claret has not the same 
effect ; it 13 a cooling and excellent beverage taken freely at 
all meals, anu at all hours of the day. — I was going on with the 
other meals of the day, but was agreeably interrupted by a visit, 
not the first by several, from the interesting Mr C. author of 
letters from Europe, some specimens of which went the rounds 
of the newspapers before they appeared in the form of a volume. 
He has been on the island a month or more, and much of that 
time has been spent in this neighborhood. I am delighted with 
him; and as I must go to Havana sooner or later, we have 
concluded to go together, and to go by land. We have some 
friends on the way, and shall probably pick up others by letters, 
and whatever is curious and interesting we shall endeavor to 
see. * * * -5^- ^ ^ X am this evening to go to a plant- 
ation belonging to MrT. a Baltimorean, to spend the night, and 
tomorrow. Yesterday we dined and took coffee with Mr W.'s 
family, of Connecticut, and very interesting. 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 21 

LETTER VI. 

TO MRS E A . 



La Carolina, Feb. 26th, 1828. 

This day has been crowded with incidents and observations 
deserving of record. A small party of three gentlemen on 
horseback and two ladies in the volante, Mr S. and Mr 
C. the tourist, and Mrs S. and her niece, and myself, start- 
ed in the gray of the morning for the mountains of Hatillo, 
the name of the region of Mr J.'s Sugar Estate. About 

a mile onward near the estate of we saw the battle ground 

of 1825, where a few gentlemen by uncommon daring, killed a 
few, and put to flight six or seven hundred insurgent negroes. 
On this occasion Mr C. was particularly distinguished. He is 
a gentleman of a noble figure; and may have been prompted 
to an onset, in which destruction must have been certain, if 
resolution had been in proportion to numbers, by the scenes of 
St Domingo, where his fan)ily lost their whole property, and 
escaped narrowly from their blazing home. Mr C. and his 
brother, then little children, were snatched li'om the ruins by a 
faithful servant, who fled with them to the mountains. Four 
gentlemen, if I mistake not, put the whole multitude to rout, 
and arrested the rebellion in its beginning. 

Our ride was cool and delightful, by pleasant plantations, 
through shady forests of trees new to me, the larger often 
dressed like a ship, with vegetable cordage, and adorned by 
the parasitical wild pine-apple, like bird's nests, scattered among 
the branches; sometimes we wound our course round the base 
of conical mountains, rearing their proud heads, like beautiful 
domes, almost to the clouds. We passed here and there across 
the dry beds of what will be rivers when the rainy season shall 
pour its confluent streams from the mountains. We scented in 
the gale, nearly a mile before it was visible, a vast sugar estate, 
and were astonished to see the vast extent of luxuriant cane on 



22 I.ETTERS FROM CUBA. 

every side of us. It is the grinding season ; and long before 
we arrived near the mill, the deafening din of the teamsters 
reached us, cheering and goading ten pair of oxen, to produce 
a whirl of the cast iron nuts, through which the cane is passed 
and repassed, while a half dozen negroes are diligently 
employed in feeding the insatiable devourer. We tooK but a 
passing glance of the buildings belonging to the establishment, 
which will probably send to market from sixty to a hundred 
tho;jsand dollars worth of clayed sugars this season. 

After some mistakes, which added to the distance and the 
pleasure of our ride, we were welcomed with generous hospi- 
tality by the planter of the Mountains of Hatillo ; and passed 
in his interesting family, and with his accomplished mother, now 
on a visit, a delightful day. 

After a superb breakfast highly enjoyed with an appetite 
eager from a ride of ten or eleven miles, we sallied out to 
survey an extensive sugar plantation. Two volantes accom- 
modated the ladies ; the gentlemen first repaired to the mill, 
to witness a busy scene. A huge boiler filled with grits was 
preparing dinner for the laborers on the spot. A negro close 
by with a mill turned by a crank, was providing the raw 
material. Two mills, with ten or twelve oxen harnessed in 
each, with a driver to each pair on the outside, and a general 
whipper on the inside, and a yell from the whole, which defies 
description, were keeping the mill in quick motion. When the 
cane had passed through the first pair of nuts, it was turned 
back again through the second pair, (the middle nut being one 
of each pair) by six wooden rollers called dumb turners, re- 
volving parallel with the nuts. The juice fell copiously into an 
inclined trough, and passed off rapidly in an under ground 
conductor, to join the confluent stream of the other mill. 
Together in a rapid and respectable tide, it disgorges itself into 
a reservoir, in the boiling section- of this vast building, one story 
lower than the level of the mills. The mills in this manner 
deliver 500 gallons in twentyfive minutes. 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 23 

, From the reservoir, the juice is next passed by a duct, to a 
large copper ketde, containing 500 gallons, under which is kept 
a hot fire of wood ; — into this mass three tumblers of lime are 
thrown, as a refining process. Here it boils with violence, and 
rises crowned with froth and bubbles, and as it is prone to 
overleap the limits of the kettle, there is a second rim rising 
higher, which controls the stray fluid and leads it into a reservoir 
close by, which may be called the save-all, for safe keeping. 

The next step is to transfer the refined juice into a duct^ 
which conveys it into a tank, where the impurities sink to the 
bottom. Thence it passes by an easy conveyance to take lis 
course through a row of three kettles, over a fire, a gentler fire 
of dried ground cane. From the first kettle it is dipped out 
into the second by a negro with a copper bucket attached to a 
long pole, W'hich operation he performs by means of a moving 
skid, with dexterity and tolerable ease. From the third kettle 
it is transferred to a tank, or large trough, against the wall, witli 
a guard of boards on each side, that nothing may be lost. It 
is here brought to a state of granulation by two negroes, one it 
each end of the trough^ dashing with the bucket on the pole 
back and forth, and up and down, till it is felt or seen to be 
graining. It is at this trough that strangers and negroes have 
free access to cake ofi* the sugar for their entertainment ; and 
invalids find it salutary to inhale the fumes of the neighboring 
kettles. 

In this state of granulated liquid, the precious mass is taken 
in an iron bucket to the pans, arranged in rows over an inclined 
plane. The pans are first wetted, that the sugar may not stick 
to them ; and are in the form of an inverted cone, with a hole 
at the bottom, which is stopped by a plug and husks, but not so 
tight as to prevent the molasses from oozing out, and falling on 
an inclined plane, placed like a roof beneath, and running into 
casks below. Negroes returning from the field are required to 
call as they pass, and take each a pan of sugar to the purging 
house, so called, till they are all removed. Here we will leave 



24 LETTERS FROM CUBJS;. 

the pans for the present, to complete our view of the mill and 
•boiling house. Passing to the end of the building we look into 
the furnaces under the respective kettles, and find all are fed 
with dry cane, which has been through the mill, except the 
jcentral fire under the clarifying kettle, which is heated hotter 
^han the rest with wood. Great quantities of cane fuel are 
housed at hand, lest rain should unfit it for use* I may just 
jemark that the negroes wear sandals in this business; and that 
the pots, about to receive the granulated juice are wet to prevent 
its sticking, and that from the central clarifying boiler, the same 
process goes on to the granulating tank, both on the right 
skid left. 

I In passing to the purging house, we discovered a negro 
fading a pair of superannuated oxen, who were incapable of 
liarder labor, round a post in the centre of a little pit, six or 
eight feet in diameter, for the purpose of treading liquid clay. 
Everything, of course, looked filthy enough. In this dirty 
ht)le is produced the mighty agent, through whose pollution 
purity is produced, and snowy whiteness is imparted to the dark 
n^uscovado. 

i In the neighboring building, we saw it standing in rows, with 
tljie lower part of the cone in a hole, to drop the molasses again 
ijpon an inclined plane, which conveys it to a vat holding 
30,000 gallons. We saw 7000 pans, each holding from 35 to 
50 lbs. of sugar. On the top of the sugar in the pan a portion 
(if the clay from the pit is placed, and by its magical power, it 
drives the molasses downward" till the greatest part of the cone 
ijecomes white, and the bottom becomes tinged with a slight 
molasses color. The clay comes oif from the top entirely in 
a cake, perhaps an inch thick. The pots are once more re- 
iBoved to a drying house ; the white sugar is then severed from 
tbe darker, and cut and broken into small pieces, and exposed 
to tlie sun in driers on truckles, that in a moment they may be 
run under a roof in case of rain. The same is done by the 
darker sugar ; and both are next removed to the store, and 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 25 

boxed for the market, and sent eighteen miles, by land, on 
mules or in carts, to the Erabarcadera, and thence by the 
Canimar to Matanzas, twelve miles. 

Five hundred gallons of juice yield about three hundred 
pounds of clayed sugar; and as that quantity of the liquid 
flows from the nuts in twentyfive minutes; and the operations 
of the mills and furnaces being simukaneous, and so managed 
that one part shall not wait day or night for the other, this mill 
and furnace establishment must send to the purging-house, the 
driers, and the boxes, more than 700 lbs. of clayed sugar in an 
hour; 16,800 lbs. must be boxed each day, and something like 
1,000,000 lbs. to speak loosely, in a season. 

The molasses of this establishment is a heavy article, and 
would be an important item in the profits of the plantation, if 
the cartage did not nearly consume Us price. The planter 
designs to set up a distillery ou the premises, to raise the price, 
and diminish the carting of this branch of the economy of the 
plantation. 

The buildings on this estate, (and very small is the sum, 
which the palace has cost the owners) have been reared at an 
expense of more than $ 50,000. Though there are estates 
vastly larger than this, for its income, this may almost be 
esteemed a principality. When every expense has been de- 
ducted from the product of the 2000 acres, it leaves a net 
income of $50,000 per annum. 

^ 4f * «• * * 



LETTER VII. 

TO MRS A E 



La Carolina, Feb. 28th, 1820. 
You have been so unremitted in your epistolary kindness, 
notwithstanding your infirmity of health, that I address to you a 
hasty effusion by the present opportunity. And this, the rather 
4 



2G LETTERS i'ROM CUBA. 

because one object is to announce to you the kindness of a 
friend, who has requested me to accept for my family a barrel 
of orangei^, a fruit of which you are peculiarly fond. Should 
they arrive in good condition, you will have opportunity of judg- 
ing of my every day's pleasures in this land of tropical luxury. 
Mr S. is the generous friend to whom we are indebted for this 
present. He is a Connecticut gentleman, on one of the most 
highly ornamfinted and beautiful coffee estates in this vicinity, 
with whom I am to pass a few days as soon as I can find time. 
The fact is that I am solicited in so many directions, that I am 
perplexed so to manage as to give no offence ; in other words, 
to accept invitations with as much courtesy as they are given. 

Hoping at my return to give you some more minute account 
of events and things than can be done in hasty letters, I shall at 
present content myself with some hints only of the ten days 
which have elapsed since I landed, or rather of the few days 
since the date of my last letter to you. On the evening of the 
23d, I went to Mr F.'s, a gentleman from Maryland, a friend 
and contemporary of our friend Mr P. He has a very pleas- 
ant and well educated family, and particularly his son, who re- 
cieved a French education at Geneva, and whose fondest local 
attachments are to the place of his education. They have 500 
acres, one third in forest, two thirds cultivated with coffee and 
provisions ; ninetyfive negroes, and raise 2000 quintals of coffee 
per year. Their well is 150 feet deep, surrounded with tanks 
for horses, negroes, and the family. You will be surprised 
with the depth of this well. But they sometimes sink the shaft, 
and a great pert of it through rock, 300 feet deep ; the great- 
est depth I have heard of is 360 feet. Here, I touch the de- 
fect of the island ; rivulets and brooks are almost unknown in 
this quarter ; wells are with great difficulty and expense ob- 
tained, and most plantations rely on the clouds of heaven for 
this first essential of life, which, on coffee estates they contrive 
to treasure up in large tanks, filled by the confluent streams of 
their coffee-driers. They are now building on Mr T.'s estate^ 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 27 

a range of boheas^ or negro huts. They are of limestone ana* 
mortar, ten feet high, forming a square, and the doors opening 
inward ; the entrance is through a large gate, secured by night; 
the whole comfortable; and even handsome, and very safe. 
While the negroes are to live in plastered houses, you will 
think of a superb mansion for their master. He lives under a 
thatched roof, the winds blowing through his hall, with humble 
recesses at the side, for bed-chambers ; and were this house in 
England, it would cost him no tax for the light of heaven. But 
it is usual for these planters, with judicious economy, to reclaim 
the forest, plant their coffee trees, build their store and out 
houses, and beautiful driers, and even plant their ornamental 
walks, before they lavish time and expense on their own man- 
sion. Even the Yankees, famed as they are for Scotch 
shrewdness, might take an admirable lesson from this order and 
economy of things. 

On the following day, by concert among five or six gentle- 
men, a party set out for Cardenas Bay, about fifteen miles 
distant, to show to Mr C. and myself, a spot, which is likely to 
become shortly as considerable a depot as Matanzas, and pos- 
sibly as Havana itself. 

The bay of Cardenas is very capacious, extending nine miles 
from cape to cape, and is twelve miles deep in Its indentation. 
A singular phenomenon is discovered in the shoal water near 
the shore ; living springs of fresh v/ater boil up ; and one of 
our company, accustomed to bathe in the place, had inhaled 
the water at the bottom, and found it sweet. Four vessels lay 
off at anchor ; a few rude stores, roofs only, stood on the 
shore, filled with molasses and honey. Two tavern stores, not 
as richly and variously furnished as when the rovers made busi- 
ness plenty, were, however, driving a profiJable trafiic. Char- 
coal, in bags, for Havana, lies exposed at a place which is an 
apology for a wharf, and timber, some mahogany, more cedar, 
lay about the neighboring ground. In this spot, thus described, 
the Governor is now setting up a custom-house — and tJiere can 




LETTERS FROM CUBAc 

(e no doubt, it will, at no distant day, become a place of con- 
siderable commerce. There is a plantation country around, 
/ and the produce will seek the nearest water carriage. There 
are some estates not far distant, which pay ten thousand a year 
for transportation to the landing at the fork of the Canemar. It 
costs from three to four dollars for the transportation of a box 
of sugar. 

The six gentlemen, with horses and servants, invited them- 
selves to dine with Mons. le J., and were received with evident 
cordiality and pride. Mr T.'s house may answer a description 
of this mansion. Suspended over the table is the India fauy 
which, pulled by a cord, answered the double purpose of 
dispersing the flies, and cooling the guests. An extensive green 
was lively with poultry, and the pick of them graced our table* 
The gentlemen, with French ease, cast themselves, when fa- 
tigued, on beds in the recesses, or nodded in the piazzas, or 
examined a flourishing garden, or v»^alks of fruit and ornamental 
trees, or the field of pine apples, or chatted with the lively and 
sensible inmates of the family, until the descending sun ad- 
monished us to take up our line of march for St Jose. 

I passed a second night at Mr T.'s, and in the morning, with 
his son, on horseback, examined this fine estate. Thirty acres 
of plantain yield an astonishing quantity of excellent food. 
Great quantities of corn are raised among the coffee trees. 
The negroes increase the variety of their food by the product 
of their own land. They raise raelanga, the top for salad, the 
bottom for a change for plantain. We saw lucerne and guinea 
grass for cattle ; the former fattens horses ; they grow poor on 
the latter. We saw bibiagueras, (ant nests,) most of which, 
however, in this well conducted estate, had been dug up; a 
lime kiln burning; a cocoa pit, from which is dug up an essen- 
tial ingredient in their mortar ; the mouth of a cave, the bottom 
of which has not been explored ; thrifty lime hedges, and 
avenues traversing the estate at right angles, set with palms, 
and I know not how many species of flowering trees and 
shrubs ; and returned to the mansion to breakfast. * * 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

LETTER VIII. 

TO MRS A E G- 



29 



La Carolina, Feb. 27th, 1828. 
I WAS invited yesterday, to a new enterprise, by my never 
weary and excellent friend, Mr S. The object was, to visit Mr 
J., and a svgar estate. We had a delightful ride in the cool 
of the morning, of about ten miles. The birds sang among 
the branches ; and the noisy parrots, tamed into contentment 
among us with a perch on a chair, or in a cage, scaled the 
loftiest trees in pairs. Here, the cofFee-field was whitening 
into a wide sheet of fragrant snow; there, we passed at the 
base of a shaggy cone, four or five hundred feet high. After 
some fortunate mistakes, which extended our ride, and increased 
the variety, we arrived and were welcomed most cordially. 
I have given in another letter a minute account of this interest- 
in?: day, and you will there find an exact history of clayed 
sugar in its progress from a tide of juice issuing from the mills, 
to its granulation, claying, and boxing. This is a vast estate, 
yielding this yearsixtyfive thousand dollars; wrought by a gan^ 
of one hundred and eighty negroes, great and small; kept in 
health, by plenty of food and clothing, plenty of labor and 
recreation, and the attendance of a physician every day, at a 
salary of four hundred dollars per annum. They have one 
hundred and ten yoke of oxen, estimated to be worth thirteen 
thousand dollars ; two only of several large buildings contain 
fiftysix thousand, seven hundred feet of shingled roof. They 
have a pottery to make their pans and tiles, and one hundred 
and eighty thousand bricks have been made in the year. If you 
except the fields of luxuriant cane, and three or four volantes, 
there is nothing ornamental on the estate. All is business and 
great results. There are scattered palms, but no avenue ; a 
river. River Nuevo, over which a cat might jump, and not dis- 
gust her paws. There is a beautiful spring impregnated with 



30 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

sulphur, roofed with palm leaves, banked and bottomed with 
plank, perfectly convenient for bathing, and the waters salubri- 
ous. Mr J. came to the island at two years old, and is mar- 
ried to a Spanish lady, who has given him three pretty children. 
His mother is on a visit to her son from a coffee estate, lying 
between Matanzas and Havana ; she is an accomplished and 
opulent American widow. Our hospitality was of the Spanish 
character. Everything was on a generous, scale, and great 
courtesy and cordiality prevailed. * 4t * * 

It is really my hope to embrace an invitation made and re- 
peated, and urged to visit them again. 

We returned in the cool of the day, and to diminish my 
fatigue ; and in spite of my earnest remonstrances, I was sent 
home two or three miles, in Mr S.'s volante, with my horse 
tied behind. My only difficulty, among these eagle eyed friends, 
is to limit their kindness. I am like the sailor crossing the 
line, almost made to swear that I will not walk when I can 
ride, nor eat brown bread when I can get white, nor touch any 
secondary thing while there is a first which is better. 

My friends Mr and Mrs B., have set out this morning for 
Bemba, to a christening, where Mrs B. has been solicited to 
stand godmother. The distance is more than three leagues, 
and I declined their invitation to attend them. I shall probably 
witness the baptism of the only daughter of this family, which 
makes me the less regret the loss of this excursion. I would 
suggest some curious remarks on Catholic baptism, only I hope 
for a better occasion, and I have now no room. I must give 
you, however, a brief account of this caravan, or travelling 
family, as they appeared starting from our green. The fair 
skinned party were Mr and Mrs B., Mrs O., lady of the captain 
of this circle, an office involving all civil and military power 
within its limits; Mr C. and the three children. They were 
attended by the body servant of Mrs B., hev fad o turn, gaily 
dressed, and on a sidesaddle ; a little girl, to mind the infant, 
sitting behind the volante ; a postillion in livery, and two ser- 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 31 

vants with sumpter horses, and large panniers filled with trunks 
and all other things needful for two or three days. Two mules 
to relieve the horses in the volante, were tied by their long hal- 
ters to the clubbed tail of one of the sumpter horses, jerking, 
and playing their gambols behind and sideways, to the great 
endangering of the long haired honors of that nobler animal 5 
and a gende pony, handsomely caparisoned for the ladies, if 
they should wish to mount, was in the same manner made fast 
to the other. In the latter case, the one horse being spurred 
by his rider, and the other, though having little to carry being 
reluctant to go, the tail of the one horse, and the head of the 
other, were brought to a level line. The glittering volante, the 
gentlemen on horseback, knights in armor, with pistols and 
broad swords, with the rest, already described, were an exhibi- 
tion as grotesque and as splendid, as it was amusing and novel 
to me. 

^ * * * "^ The kindness of this family is delightful. It 
seems the pleasure of this neighborhood to do all in their power 
for invalids. Every year they have more or less of these un- 
fortunate beings among them ; I am the second in this family, 
and there have been many more in this neighborhood during 
this season from America. I have the pleasure to assure you 
that I am daily improving in health and strength ; through the 
great goodness of Godj I am able to exercise to some degree 
of fatigue, eat well, sleep in general well, and trust I am in- 
vigorating a debilitated constitution in a manner which may 
enable me to be further useful to my family and people. My 
cough is not absolutely extinct ; 1 do not think I have reason to 
expect that it will be so, till the tabernacle itself shall be taken 
down. The cough is eleven years old. But experience since 
my former excursion to the south, leads me to hope that it may 
be kept at bay by general good health, and care not to overdo, 
as I did last summer ; to avoid particular exposure, to be regu- 
lar in exercise, and, if possible, in sleep, he, he. O ! I now 
long, if it may please my Master, to do him, and the cause of 



S2 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

Christ service, and to be a blessing to my family and my 
affectionate people. A flood of tenderness comes over me 
when I think of you all in this distant land. All the strange 
and beautiful scenes around me cannot divert my thoughts 
from " home, sweet liome^'' for any length of time. " There is 
no place like home." 1 care not who may smile at my weak- 
ness. It is manly, and christian, to melt in thinking of the 
dearest country on the globe, the freest people on the earth, 
:and the most enlightened portion, (take them as a whole,) of 
the human family, and the most moral. Fauhs they have, 
and very many. There is civil dissension, and party violence ; 
there is ecclesiastical jealousy, and unchristian intolerance, of 
which we ought to be ashamed, and from which we ought to 
abstain, portending dangers to the commonwealth and the 
church, and at which the finger of scorn or of triumph is 
pointed from lands of civil and ecclesiastical despotism. But, 
America, " with all thy faults, I love thee still," and more than 
all, the land of the pilgrims, and the spot, where the trees, 
planted by the hand of Endicott, still, by their shade and fruits, 
cheer his descendants, and the free and liberal sentiments 
breathed into the civil and ecclesiastical polity of olden time, 
are the stamina of church and state. 

* -K- * * J gjj^ ready to blame myself for the length of 
this epistle. But I am garrulous when I look homeward, and 
besides, if I can do anything to cheer the family, I owe it 
fully to their unwearied assiduity in cheering me. Let no ves- 
sel come to Matanzas without letters ; and if sent to Havana, 
I shall get them as easily as you get them from Providence or 
New York. To all who ask, remember me affectionately. 
I hope all things go on well in the parish — that the sick are 
better, the well happy, and all desirous to see their pastor, 
who longs to see them. A Dios, — adieu — The blessing of 
lieaven rest on those 1 love. 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 33 



LETTER IX. 

SiTMiDERO, March 1st, 1828. 

A PARTY of five gentlemen, Messrs C, S., W., and son, and 
myself, set out at sunrise, for the mountains of Hacana, so beau- 
tifully visible on the south from most of the estates of the Par- 
tido of Sumidero. After a cool and delightful ride through 
estates and forests, over a good horse road, we arrived in the 
bleak Savanna at the foot of the highest of them. We declin- 
ed examining the sulphur spHng in the neighborhood, to save 
the morning hours for the more arduous purpose of the ascent. 
The savanna presents a sterile, yet not uninteresting view. Its 
growth is little more than blighted grass and bushes, the pal- 
metto and palmetier, a tree which runs from thirty to forty feet 
high, having a stem only three or four inches diameter, with a 
palmy top, curiously v/rapped round at the insertion and below 
the leaves with a natural web, in which the leaves cross each 
other in diamonds. 

Much of the height we ascended on our horses, and securing 
them to palmettos we soon attained the first peak of the highest 
row, and passed from peak to peak, in what we supposed the 
trail of wild negroes, through grass and bushes, quite luxurian t, 
to the summit of the most elevated, which is estimated variously 
from 1500 to 2000 feet above the level of the sea. Delight- 
ful views opened upon us, standing on this natural observatory. 
A savanna east, and another west, stretched a few miles at our 
feet, walled in by a necklace of hills, less high than that on which 
we stood. Beyond these, the eye rested on about thirty sugar 
estates, easily discerned by the lively green of the cane, glitter- 
ing in the sun. The coffee estates were still more numerous; 
but the avenues, with which they are adorned, set with palm, 
and orange, mango and other trees, both fruitful and beautiful, 
and shrubs and bushes of gorgeous flowers, were too distant to 
5 



34 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

exhibit their charms to advantage. The Sumidero in most 
parts of the circle, appears in high cultivation. 

We were not altogether fortunate in the morning, a thin fog 
lingering in the horizon. But the ocean was perfectly visible at 
the bay of Cardenas, and the sheet of water between the shore 
and the island in the bay, and the form of the island, lying 
northeast at the distance of about twenty miles. We expected 
to see the Caribbean sea, lying southwest. In a clear day it is 
distinctly seen at the distance, by estimation, of twenty five 
miles ; but it remained a little doubtful to the last, whether we 
saw the water, the fog not wholly clearing away. It is certain, 
however, that the eye here spans the island at a single station ; 
and the observer can entertain no doubt that a line of forty five 
or fifty miles would reach from the Caribbean to the Atlantic. 
From this peak the heights of Camiraoca are seen in the range 
of the La Carolina, Mr B.'s estate. The mountains extend in 
an irregular way, W. 120 miles, N. 20, S. 5, and E. about 6 
miles. Beyond this limit, to the east, the island is a level 
country about 300 miles, and from sea to sea. 

As natural canals, and rivers, are rare, and the expense of 
transporting the bulky articles to market is often more than half 
their value, canals and rail-ways, at no distant day, may be ex- 
pected to intersect the most fruitful and practicable parts of the 
island. 

The mountains of Hacana. except the tops of some of them, 
present a naked appearance. The sweet pea ; a beautiful rose 
on a myrtle-leafed vine, deep red, with a border on the under 
side of the petals; a species of aloes, with a stem, ten or fifteen 
feet high, called by the Spaniards, pinea de sacra, or hedge 
aloes ; the night-blooming cereus, shooting its roots into the 
rocks, and winding about on their crags ; were the most consider- 
able vegetables we saw upon them. Between two or three of 
the peaks, the grass was high, and would have impeded our 
walk, had we not discovered the negro trail, before mentioned. 
Bibiaguas, so formidable in the cultivated valley and cham- 



LETTERS PROM CUBA. 35 

paign, are miners on the highest peaks, and throw out a 
rich heavy earth, which, we judged, might very probably tvell 
answer the office of paint. We had not leisure to examine 
more than the surface of the mountains, except where these in- 
defatigable laborers had thrown out their excavations. It is 
very possible that others have penetrated deeper, and discover- 
ed riches, concealed from common eyes, as it is stated that the 
proprietor of the savanna and mountains has refused $500 a 
cavalleria, (33 1-3 acres,) for this sterile earth and rocks. The 
turkey buzzard scales in his flight around these peaks ; and in 
spite of the law of public sentiment in India, and in Carolina, 
and I believe, also, in this island, in favor of these natural scav- 
engers, one of their number had fallen a victim to a rifle, and 
we saw his carcass unburied on the peak. 

We descended from the mountains, and passing round the 
conical base of the eastern end, and through a savanna at the 

north of them, and crossing the sometimes a dry bed, and 

sometimes containing water, to which the thirsty oxen on the 
roads, and the animals of some neighboring plantations repair 
in this drought of watef, we reached the Sumidero to breakfast 
at almost the dinner hour. 



LETTER X. 

TO Mr W E . 



March 2d, 1S28. 
* * * Being in a family, which had received a 
printed invitation to what is strangely called in common par- 
lance, the christening of a sugar estate, I attended the gentle- 
men of the family to witness the religious ceremonies according 
to Catholic usage. This ceremonial takes place when a new 
sugar estate has been planted, the necessary buildings erected, 



36 LETTERS FROM CUBA, 

and the commencing of the grinding is proposed. A padrena 
and madrena, or godfather and godmother, are engaged for the 
occasion. The padre, or parish priest, and another priest of a 
higher order in the church, but who had retired from active 
service were also present. A large circle of Spanish gentlemen 
and some French and Americans accepted the invitation. 

Wishing only to attend the religious ceremonial, we delayed 
going too long, and were disappointed of seeing it. We were 
informed, however, that the madrena was absent, being sick, 
and the padrena performed her part. The ceremonial on the 
part of the priest, was extremely brief, amounting to this : — 
" In the name of Godj go on and prosper." After the bene- 
diction, a team of ten oxen started, and the padrena, applied 
the first cane to the nuts, and their humble laborers, the men in 
white frocks, the women in negligent robes of the same fabric, 
continued the labor. 

At our arrival all was glee and rejoicing. The negroes en- 
tered into their task with somewhat more of spirit than skill. 
They cheered, and whipped, and goaded the oxen; some 
brought the cane ; others fed the nuts ; one or two stood at the 
back side to return the cane through the second pair of nuts, 
their smooth iron surfaces revolving so nearly together that you 
could hardly see between them ; and others again received the 
cane as it fell, and distributed it in the path of the oxen, or car- 
ried it out in baskets to dry for fuel. The kettle was soon fill- 
ed, the fire was kindled, and the process of making sugar was 
begun. In the midst of this busy, tumultuous, and noisy scene, 
a loud shriek at the mill, and a sudden stop of the oxen, and an 
instant dead silence, and a countenance of horror, announced 
an accident, the very accident predicted by more than one. 
The hand of the man who was feeding the return nuts was 
caught, and his fingers and thumb drawn in nearly to the joint 
of the palm before the team could be arrested. The thumb 
was severed, and the fingers in litde better condition. The 
poor fellow sunk down, as soon as his hand was disengaged, and 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 37 

four of his companions bore him to the boiling room, and ex- 
tended him upon a board. Here such administrations were 
made as the best advice on the spot suggested, and a mes- 
senger was despatched for a surgeon. In the mean time 
the most exquisite sympathy was felt by the company, and the 
countenance of joy was in a moment turned to sadness. The 
sufferer uttered no murmur or groan. He was the oldest 
negro on the estate ; and besought of his master the office, to 
which it is expected he will fall a martyr, as in such cases of 
injury to a black, a lockjaw usually ensues. 

The business at the mill and kettles was again resumed ; but 
for some space of time, the cheering of the oxen, and the ea- 
gerness to get on rapidly were suspended. I was anxious to 
retire, but was told it would give oifence, if we did not remain 
to dine. The table was set by the side of the mill, and the 
oxen in their rounds passed near some of the guests without a 
board between them. A superb dinner was served up in there 
courses to, I think, forty or fifty gentlemen. The head of the 
table was graced by a beautiful woman, who is married to the 
son of a Spanish Marquis, and was supported by another lady. 
As they came from a retired apartment and approached the 
head of the table, the Americans rose to receive them with 
courtesy, which Seniora M. noticed gracefully. 

It seems not the Spanish custom to render special attention to 
ladies ; at least it was not discoverable on this occasion. Little 
conversation was made with them. 1 could observe no pains 
in arranging the guests. A Spanish Count, .1 believe the only 
nobleman at the table, sat half way down towards the foot, and 
a cidevant secretary of the ex-king of Spain, sat where he 
could find a place ; and was only distinguished by his superior 
wit and vivacity. All, however, v/as ease, and attention to the 
guests, by the partners in the plantation, who gave the enter- 
tainment, and by the guests to one another. 

The extensive table was covered closely with a surprising 
variety of dishes, in the Spanish style of cookery. Flesh, fish> 



38 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

and fowl were so disguised, that scarcely an old acquaint- 
ance could be discerned. A roast turkey and a roast fowl pre- 
served their shape, not their usual flavor. A plate of every- 
thing was passed round the table, with the expectation that each 
would take something for himself, of all, or such as he chose. 
They were highly seasoned, and scarcely a dish had escaped 
without a plentiful infusion of garlic. 

When the first course had been partaken, each one left the 
table, as he pleased, and if I mistake not, many employed the 
interval with a cigar. A superb dessert was then set on the 
table, in probably a hundred dishes, and an abundance of 
champaign ; and the gentlemen returned to the table, taking 
seats without reference to their former location. They partook 
of the most delicate sweetmeats, most of which were new to me. 
In drinking wine, a loud shouting and knocking on the table 
was a call for a toast. The noisy team was stopped. Mr M. 
rose and gave an impromptu in metre, of which his musical lan- 
guage is easily susceptible, with an animated and graceful air, 
which was received with cheering. A second impromptu was 
given, and several gentlemen were called upon^ who declined 
the honor, and among the rest, Mr F., because he was a 
Frenchman, not a Spaniard. 

During the last courses of the dessert and wine, of coffee and 
liqueurs, some of the gentlemen were covered with their hats, 
and some smoked their cigars close to the ladies. In the un- 
ceremonious approach to the table, where there were two ec- 
clesiastics as guests ; in the seeming neglect of the ladies, who 
in English, French and American society, are treated with sin- 
gular attention ; in the leaving of the table without order, and 
returning to it when and where they pleased ; and in other re- 
spects, the Spanish mode of conducting a superb dinner, differs 
from what I have been accustomed to see. But in some mea- 
sure, the maxim applied to dishes, may be applied to manners ; 
" de gustibus non est disputandum." 

But it would be great injustice to this select Spanish compa- 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 39 

ny, not to acknowledge, that throughout this occasion, there was 
great courtesy to the strangers, and an effort to contribute to 
their entertainment, sometimes by conversation in pretty good 
English, and sometimes through an interpreter. The most in- 
teresting persons were the family of J., Seniora M. and the 
brother of her husband. Of their intellectual character, it re- 
quired on my part, a better acquaintance with the Spanish lan- 
guage to venture an opinion. The Spanish manners partake of 
the vivacity of the French to a greater degree than 1 had sup- 
posed. From this gay scene I retired with prejudices consid- 
erably softened in regard to Spanish character and Spanish 
manners. 



LETTER XI. 

TO E W , Esq. 

Matanzas, March 9th, 1828. 
* * *.r It is a matter of serious inquiry with me, how 
slaves are treated by the different nations, who compose the 
population of this island, and in the different species of culture 
sugar and coffee. There is a marked difference in the me- 
thods in Carolina* and Cuba, of employing their slaves ; in 
Carolina, all work on land is done in tasks, and the task is the 
same on all plantations, and for all hands, male and female ;— 
one hundred and five feet square, which is duly staked out for 
every negro, is his task for the day, which performed, his mas- 
ter has no claim upon him for further service for that day. 
The vigorous and active perform the task by three or four 
o'clock, sometimes by one or two ; the strong are seen to help 
out the weak, the husband the wife, the parent the child, and 
good feeling is promoted among the gang. In Cuba, they have 
no measured task on coffee or sugar estates. With the excep- 
tion of part of Saturday, and a part of Sunday, the whole 

* South Carolina. 



40 LETTERS FBOM CUBA. 

lime of the slave is his master's. They rise at daybreak, and 
commence their toil; and with short intervals to take their 
food, they labor till the light is gone, and renew it on some 
plantations, by the light of the moon or stars, or a blazing fire. 
As they move to the field in Indian file, the driver brings up 
the rear with a word and a harmless snap of his whip, to quick- 
en their pace ; and in the field they work near together, and 
occasionally the driver rouses the gang to a quicker movement 
by an inspiriting call, like a carter speaking to his oxen. But 
I believe the lash is seldom applied ; I have never seen it. 
Nor have I seen occasion for it. The step of the slaves is 
quick as they walk, their persons erect, the back commonly 
hollowing in, and the arms hanging a little back ; and a cheer- 
ful, vigorous movement, and often a lofty and graceful air, strike 
the stranger's eye. 

It astonishes one to see with what rapidity they pass^over a 
field of weeds and bushes with their machet, an instrument like 
a butcher's cleaver, leaving neither root nor branch behind. 
This, as I should esteem it, uncouth instrument, is wielded with 
a rapidity and effect, which imply sleight of hand, and strength 
of wrist, even in females of fourteen or sixteen. Some plant- 
ers give them the common hoe of our country, in weeding 
ground not stony ; and esteem it a more efficient instrument, 
and it is certainly a more humane one, as the machet requires 
the laborer to bend his body low, to work with effect, which 
must be fatiguing and exhausting under a tropical sun. 

It is certain that they work more hours that the farmers in 
the north of our own country, and I verily believe in each hour 
accomplish as much and more. There is no conversation 
among them, no lounging or leaning on the hoe, no slouch in 
their gait, and every stroke seems to tell. I should not think the 
opinion extravagant, that the slaves in Cuba accomplish one 
third more labor than the tasked slaves of Carolina. 

So far as I have been able to observe, they ha e wholesome, 
and even delicious food, and as much as they desire. It is not 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 41 

generally measured to them, as in Carolina, nor left to their 
own cooking. They come to the cook-room with their gourd 
and take as much as they choose of the delicious plantain ; 
they have rations offish, indeed, of jerk beef, and of hearts and 
skirts, to make a variety. A pretty good sized codfish is cut 
into three parts, and one of them given to a laborer for the day. 
A pound of jerk beef also, is a ration. In addition to the com- 
mon fare, they have their own favorite dishes, cooked in their 
private kettles, in which they put melanga, ochra, and anything 
they please, raised in their own gardens. They cook their 
own suppers; and on Saturday evening, they make entertain- 
ments, and invite guests with as much form and ceremony as 
their hospitable masters. 

The simplicity and wholesomeness of their food, and con- 
stancy of their exercise, commonly secure to them the blessing 
of health. * * * 

It is generally agreed that the labor on sugar estates is most 
exhausting to the negroes, and it is confidently said, that on 
many estates there is a loss of from 10 to 15 per cent of their 
laborers each year. This, however, does not take place on 
well conducted estates. The severity of the toil on sugar 
plantations seems acknowledged by the circumstance, that some 
estates purchase males only, and where both sexes are employ- 
ed there is often litde or no increase of population. As diffi- 
culties are thrown more and more in the way of importation 
of slaves from Africa, a greater attention is paid to pregnant fe- 
males, to preserve the stock of the plantation. I trust there is 
with many, I know there is with some, a commiseration of fe- 
male slaves in that delicate situation. They are exempt from 
labor for a month before and after the birth, to nurse them- 
selves and the child, and have hours of the day for months after 
for the same purpose, during which others are at work. 

It is said, that on many Spanish sugar estates in the grinding 
season, they have but two watches, from twelve at noon to 
twelve at night, and from twelve at night to twelve at noon. 
6 



42 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

On Mr W.'s, three watches, which plan gives the negroes four 
whole nights' rest in the week, and three half nights. Mr C. 
remarks that in French sugar estates on other islands, they work 
in turn four hours at a time, which makes the fatigue compar- 
atively light. He remarks further, that mills going by steam 
must prevent much of the expense of grinding; and that there 
is no danger, but there will be fuel to raise the steam and boil 
the sugar, in the cane itself. In St Croix there is not a tree for 
fuel on the island, and their mills go by steam. 



LETTER XII. 

TO MRS E A — 



Camiraoca, March 4th, 1828. 

* * * On the 3d of March, Mr and Mrs S., Mr C, 
Mr T. and myself, with two servants on horseback set out 
from Mr T.'s at sunrise for Camiraoca. We passed many 
fine coffee estates, and an extensive savanna, and arrived at Mr 
W.'s to breakfast. We were received with great hospitality, 
and sat down to a superb breakfast, in both Spanish and Amer- 
ican style. 

This place is a sugar estate of 170 negroes, 140 workers, 
and 30 Creole children. Connected with this estate, is a cof- 
fee estate of 180,000 trees and 60 negroes. The whole loca- 
tion is of a peculiar character. Mr W.'s house is one of the 
most ancient on the island. The massy doors imply caution, 
and have a garrison air. The posts of the original building 
he estimated at 100 years old; the roof has, doubtless, been 
often renewed, being of the perishable palmleaf. He has com- 
menced building of more durable materials, and a wing is al- 
ready completed. It is of large blocks of stone ; a flat roof 
and parapet, a tower and belfry, a hall below, and a small 
chamber at the end above, the whole furnished with loopholes, 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 43 

from which assailants may be annoyed in any direction. When 
his plan is completed, there will be a corresponding wing, and 
a main building uniting both. From the specimen finished, I 
judge the whole will evince skill in fortification, acquired prob- 
ably in the late war with England, in which he was success- 
fully engaged. Mr W.'s house overlooks the river of Cami- 
raoca, to which there is a beautiful descent by steps, through a 
flower and fruit garden, a bathing house, and small faunche 
mill. On the opposite bank and rising the hill, is a fruitful 
garden, presenting to the house a charming view. The plant- 
ation buildings have as favorable a location as the house. The 
sugar buildings occupy a swell, descending towards the river. 
Near the summit is the drying house, placed at a respectful dis- 
tance from the boilers, for security against fire ; next is the mill, 
going swiftly by mules at a small elevation above the nuts, the 
cane being carried in, and the expressed cane out, by arched 
ways. The ox-mill is on a small descent below, and the 
streams of juice from each unite in a common duct, and fall 
into a large tank in the boiling house ; from this the kettles are 
fed, and the sugar from the last of the row, is placed in shoal 
vats to cake, and is thence transferred to hogsheads in the first 
building in the row, while the skimmings of the kettles and the 
molasses flow onward in a duct to the distillery. 

The stable, mechanics' rooms, &c, occupy another parallel 
swell; andaboheaof stone huts, calculated for comfort and 
security, is nearly 'completed, on a convenient spot near the 

whole. 

The importance of a bohea on this plan, was suggested by 
the ferocious and desperate conduct of a Fantee negro on the 
estate, two years since. The fellow was enraged on account 
of correction bestowed on his wife by a negro driver of his own 
nation, and he plotted revenge. He secured the door of his 
enemy, as he esteemed him, by a rope, and set fire to the 
bohea in two places. The first negro that burst from the build- 
ing he stabbed, mistaking him for his enemy; perceiving his 



44 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

error, he struck at. the driver, as he next rushed out, who at- 
tempted to parry the vigorous blow with his whip, but it sever- 
ed his jugular. The desperado next cut his own throat, and 
to be certain of death, plunged his knife into his own breast. 

In accounting for a tragedy so bloody and unparalleled, 
we must resort to a principle, which in many of the negroes is 
very powerful, — the expectation of returning by death, to their 
native country. This principle is so strong in the Carrobalees, 
that suicide is frequent among them. On one estate eight of 
these misguided men were found hanging in company, in one 
night. Mr W. conjecturing that this notion had its influence on 
the mind of the murderer and felo de se, collected the negroes 
of the plantation, and with the smoking ruins of the bohea, half 
of which had been destroyed, he reduced his corse to ashes, 
and dispersed it to the winds, in terror to the survivors, and in 
discouragement to future suicide. 

The river and brook, which intersect these associate estates, 
are beauties and conveniences rare in this island, and render 
them susceptible of high improvement. The valleys and swells 
and dark soil are adapted to the cane, and the red soil and 
champaign, to the coffee. The distance to the embarcadera on 
the bay at the mouth of the river, is four miles and a half, and 
thence to Matanzas, sixteen miles, the village and church only 
a mile and a half distant, render the estate valuable, and the 
future mansion an enchanting situation. 



LETTER XIII. 

TO MISS A W A- 



Camiraoca, March 4th, 1S28. 
^ * * Some of the trees on this place deserving to 
be mentioned, are the Guinea palm, of which one hundred are 
growing, and several of them begin to yield wine and oil. The 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 45 

top considerably resembles that of the royal palm, the curvature 
of the long waving leaf I think still more graceful. The stem 
v^^as not of sufficient height to judge what will be its beauty. 
The fruit of the tree makes its appearance at the top on a cone 
resembling a high-bush black-berry, only the cone is the size of 
a gallon keg, and the purple protuberances of this magnificent 
berry as big at a two ounce ball. They are yellow when ripe ; 
and are broken in a mortar and boiled in water, and the skim- 
ming is palm oil, which constitutes an important article in Afri- 
can commerce, and African food. For the latter purpose it is 
raised on this place. Negroes prefer it to butter. 

The wine of the palm is drawn from the tree by cutting a 
shoot near the top ; and the pleasant liquor flows from the in- 
cision to the amount of a quart. 

The citron is another interesting plant, a shrub rather than a 
tree. It grows as awkwardly as the fig tree ; but its fruit is 
beautiful to the eye. It is almost an acorn in form ; or like 
a lemon of enormous size, nine inches long, and five or six in 
diameter, large at the stem, and tapering to the blossom end. 

The cactus, which is called the prickly pear, and is of 
dwarfish size in our northern pots, here towers six or seven 
feet ; and stands firm on a flattened trunk a foot in diameter. 
The aloes, from which is extracted the potent and bitter medi- 
cine in ordinary use, is growing in this garden. A leaf broken, 
has a glassy appearance, full of thick, oily juice, which is ex- 
pressed and boiled to an essence. 

The mamie of St Domingo, whose leaf is like magnolia 
grandiflora, is a fine fruit of the size of a melon. 

The anetto is here a small tree. It bears clusters of small 
pods, filled with small seeds, of a pink color, which, drawn 
across the finger, leaves a streak of red ; and it yields a deli- 
cate red paint. 

From Mr W. I understood that coffee bags are made of the 
bark of aloes leaves. 

Clouds were in the morning indicative of rain ; but after de- 



4d LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

liberation, it was thought safe in this dry time, to ride to the 
landing place of Mr W. on the bay of Camiraoca. It was 
about four miles and a half. We passed through a small village 
of the same name, containing, perhaps forty thatched houses, 
two or three with tiled roofs, four shops, and a church. The 
church is pleasantly located on the top of a hill, built with little 
expense and already going to decay. 

The road to the landing is rocky ; a tavern and shop are 
found at the head of the small, shoal bay, and on one side of it, 
Mr W. has a store to shelter his molasses, sugar, and rum. 
His litde cove is tolerably protected from the north winds, to 
which the bays are directly open, by a natural mole of rock, 
which just admits his launch. In a drill of the rock, he has fix- 
ed a sturdy post, and the crane from the top of it swings over 
the launch. Into this bay empties the Camiraoca river, a very 
small stream at this time, but a considerable volume of water at 
the rainy season. The north wind often closes its mouth with 
sand, and the stream again works it clear. The north wind 
with rain beat into the bay, while we were there, and dashed 
the waves against and over the rocks. 

We saw several large fish about the store, called the grouper, 
weighing thirty or forty pounds, short, and very lusty, and much 
esteemed. The distance of this embarcadera from Matanzas, 
by water, is sixteen miles. 

Along this coast, the pirates have practised their barbarous 
business. * * * It is a well known fact that persons on 
shore have had connexion and partnership with the villains in 
their boats ; and have had a voice in dictating the disposal of 
the property and lives in the captured vessels. A proprietor of 
a handsome launch was a planter, and when consulted whether 
a certain captive should be spared, he replied, " No ; dead 
men do not talk." [t is affirmed on respectable authority, that 
one of these land associates with the pirates when arrested, of- 
fered $150,000 for his liberty. The boon, however, was de- 
nied him, and he is still in close confinement, and probably will 
be till the fund is exhausted. 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 47 



The family and their visitants dined at Mr S.'s, who owns 
a coffee estate in their neighborhood. The dinner was luxu- 
rious, and among other delicacies, was a sauce, which might 
be easily mistaken for apple-sauce, formed of the young fruit 
of the mango-tree. Also, another delicious sauce, white, and of 
a pine-apple taste, made, I think, of the green fruit of the mamie 
of St Domingo, and which, I am informed, is as safe and whole- 
some, as delicious. 

On this estate I first saw the cocoa-nut tree, in bearing. It 
is of the palm family; and displays its fruit beautifully in large 
clusters at the top. The fruit is of all degrees of size, from 
the beautiful flowers on a spike, like a wheat sheaf, to the ripe 

nut. 

In the lemon tree, I am disappointed ; it is little more than a 
large bush like a quince tree, and refusing the knife. It bangs 
with flowers, small lemons, and the ripe fruit, all together. I 
returned to Mr W.'s at an early hour, on account of the coldness 
of the day, and the chilliness of the wind, which blew through 
their spacious hall, kindly attended by Mr T., against my re. 
monstrances. I went early to bed, and lay warm beneath 
blankets, expecting to awake with cough and rheumatism. In 
the morning, however, the mercury being at 61^, and the dogs 
shivering in the hall, I rose in my usual heaUh, and before 
breakfast, ranged on horseback with Mr C. and Mr W. through 
both plantations, to see one of the greatest curiosities of the 
island,— a chepote spring,— a spring of mineral tar. It is on 
the banks of the Camiraoca. We first discovered the sub* 
stance floating on the water Hke oil, and glistening in the sun. 
We found it next on the banks, like tar, which bad escaped 
from a barrel, and become fixed in little hollows, somevvhat 
hardened by the sun, yet yielding to the pressure of a stick, 
We examined a hollow in the bank, filled with water, about 
two yards over, and a foot deep. Here the substance was four 
or five inches deep in thickness, and possibly many more at 
the bottom of the puddle, which we ascertained by a stake 



48 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

crowded into it ; and raising it out of the water, a pound or 
two clung to it, and a yard or two roped from the end of it, till 
it was wound into a knot by turning the stick round. 

We collected with ease, two or three quarts of this singular 
substance, in the back part of a palm leaf, to be sent to Ivlatan- 
zas for our curious friends. I know not all the localities of the 
chepote. There is a key of it near the coast, which at high 
water is covered, and at low water is two feet above the sur- 
face. Launches lie along side, and are filled with it. A gen- 
tleman who has made experiments with this mineral tar, thinks 
he can make a composition v/ith it, for covering roofs, superior 
to any which has been invented. The chepote, which forms 
the key, I understand, is hard, like rosin, and breaks like it. 



LETTER XIV. 

TO THE SAME. 

La Carolina, March 5th, 1828. 

We took leave of our hospitable friends, and returned to 
Sumidero. On our way about two miles, we discovered at a 
distance, the tree, which, by way of eminence, is called " the 
beautiful." Its form, seen at a little distance, is globular ; the 
ramification so regular and full, and the foliage so thick, that it 
seems solid. It appeared as if dressed for exhibition, and as 
we drew near, a scarlet breasted, or scarlet crested bird, I 
could not decide w^hich, as it soon flew away, was perched on 
its bosom, as a diamond pin in a lady's kerchief. 

Mr C. and myself dismounted, to examine this far-famed 
tree. The diameter of the stem is three feet; the diameter 
of the globular top is sixty ; and this, also, is its height. The 
limbs radiate with wonderful regularity, and though almost 
innumerable, scarcely any two of them are seen to chafe or 
cross each other. 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 49 

We passed through an extensive savanna, near the beautiful 
hills of Camiraoca ; and by a pcrtrero of rich land, which the 
proprietor is beginning to convert into a sugar estate, we passed 
into the richest soil I have seen on the island, belonging to Mr 

. The cane was twelve or fifteen feet high ; the soil 

black and loose ; the oxen without slits in their nostrils ; the 
negroes decently dressed 5 and everything wore the aspect of 
ease and comfort. 

We ascended the mountain, which separates Sumidero from 
; on its cleared height, we enjoyed a charming pros- 
pect. An extensive valley of the richest soil, extended itself 
west, and north, and east, with six sugar estates in view. The 
passes of Camiraoca interposed between us and the ocean at 
one point ; but its waters and breakers were in view on the 
right and left of them. A vessel was seen entering the bay of 
Matanzas 5 and the whole view of valley, mountain, and ocean, 
was truly enchanting. 

We descended the mountain, and found ourselves in Mr J.'s 
sugar estate in Sumidero, and soon arrived at my friend's, at 
La Carolina. 

For almost a year, there has been little rain on this island. 
The brooks have dried up ; the rivers have scarcely maintained 
water in the deepest parts of their channels ; the tanks of 
many plantations have been exhausted, and wells of 300 feet 
deep have been sunk deeper to obtain water. The soil has 
chapped open with thirst, and crumbled under the feet of the 
traveller. Orange trees have been shrivelled in their foliage, 
and stinted in the size of their fruit. Coffee trees have worn 
the melancholy hue of yellow leaves, and the planters have 
been ready to despair of their crop for the coming season. In 
this extremity, heaven has visited this part of the island with 
abundant rains. The Sumidero, which was suffering in, per- 
haps, the greatest degree, has shared most abundantly in this 
blessing. The tanks are filled ; the trees and walls are washed 
from their snuff colored hue ; the droves of mules, with their 
7 



50 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

heavy burdens pass without raising a suffocating dust ; and the 
coffee trees will now soon be white with bloom and promise. 
While all nature smiles with joy, let man look up to his Maker, 
with the humble tribute of a grateful heart. 



LETTER XV. 

TO MR E W- .— . 

Lemonal, March 8th, 1828. 
* * * In company with Mr C, we started to break- 
fast with Mr M n. The recent showers had not only laid 

the dust, but had occasioned mud, and collections of water in 
the highway, affording us a specimen of the travelling in the 
rainy season. 

We met a mayoral with twelve negroes on horseback, two 
on a horse ; three horses before him, and three behind. They 
were all young, from ten to sixteen years, uncommonly fair and 
plump, a little sad, but of good tempered countenances. Male 
and female were astride. To New-Englanders. it was a sight 
occasioning considerable emotion. Whether imported or creole, 
we could not tell. 

We v/ere in season at Lemonal, and again breakfasted with- 
out our host, he being gone to see a sick neighbor. 

After breakfast, in looking round the place, we perceived 
seventy or eighty bushels of euchre, just dug from about a quar- 
ter of an acre, grown from slips in seven months ; and as it 
yields a crop and a half in a year, four hundred and twenty 
bushels, with little cultivation, and is esteemed nearly twice as 
nutricious as the sweet potato, it is a fine crop. It yields the 
best of starch, and is a pleasant addition to the variety of negro 
diet, as well as to the planter's table. It is a species of cassavi, 
or cassada. 

Around this gentleman's residence, is an ornamental hedge 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 61 

sjf wild ipecacuanha. It grows about a yard high, in stems and 
limbs as big as one's finger, with few leaves, but tipped with a 
small red flower, which gives it a beautiful appearance, con- 
trasted with the green stems. 

In the piazza of the house, on the basement story, were forty 
negroes, sorting coffee into three parcels — good, inferior, and 
bad. They were fine looking negroes, lusty and muscular, and 
of contented countenances. Most of them were singing in a 
low tone ; one leading, and several responding in chorus, as in 
the water-song of Carolina. 

At eleven o'clock, with Mr M., and a Capt. B., in bad 
health, from the Mississippi, Mr C. and I repaired to a cave in 
the neighborhood. The mountain is very bold, almost perpen- 
dicular, yet covered with a luxuriant growth, trees of considera- 
ble size growing vvhere nothing was to be seen into which they 
could thrust their roots, but cliffs of lime-rock. The entrance 
into the cave is a lofty, natural portico of rock, sustained by 
lime-rock pillars. We penetrated with flaming torches into 
several of its recesses. They presented to the eye a dome- 
like appearance, rising forty or fifty feet to the highest point, 
adorned with pendant stalactytes, and here and there a pillar, as 
if left to prop the roof. A living spring of pure w^ater is found in 
this cave ; and innumerable bats, disturbed in their slumbers by 
the glare of our torches, flitted about it. There were no bril- 
liant petrifactions to be seen in this cave, nor in the one we 
visited on the Santa Ana estate, such as excite admiration in 
Weyer's cave, in Virginia. This may be imputed to the breadth 
of the entrance, and the little depth of the cave, to which we 
penetrated, and the free accession of air, and the general dry- 
ness of the cave. 

As the cleaning of coffee is the business of this day, I took 
a hasty notice of the process. The berries, of a red color, are 
picked from the tree, and spread in their cherry state, in the 
siccaderos, or dryers. Formerly, a more expeditious means of 
preparing the coffee for market was used, denominated the 



52 LETTERS FROM CUBA, 

grating mill, by which ibe green skin of the coffee was rent, 
and the pulp between the skin and parchment covering of the 
berry was dried in seven days instead of twentyone. But it is 
not much used on this island. Dried whole, the coffee yields 
about three per cent, more in weight, and is more easily pre- 
served in a fine state free from must, and is laid by to be cleaned 
in the season when the laborers can be best spared for the pur- 
pose. The dryers are formed with great care and neatness, 
and cover from a quarter to half an acre. They elevate the 
ground with a bed of limestone, beaten to pieces, and raised in 
the middle of tha bed so as to have a gentle declivity, and sur- 
round the edges with a wall of a foot in height. This bed and 
wall are covered with a strong cement or mortar, beaten down 
with a heavy beetle, to render it capable of sustaining all 
changes of weather. An incidental, but important use of the 
siccade.'OF, is, to fill an extensive tank with water, to serve the 
plantation through the dry season, as brooks, I may say, they 
have none, and w^ells are rare, and sunk through stone for hun- 
dreds of feet, in this part of the island. 

On the dryers, the berries are kept stirring, lest they should 
heat. They are spread thin or thick, according to the extent 
of their works, which, as they have time, they extend from 
year to year. 

When the coffee, in the cherry, is dry, they rake it together 
in a conical heap, which they cover from the dews and rains 
with sail-cloth and moveable roofs of palm-leaves. 

From the dryers, the coffee in cherry is removed to the 
peeling mill. This is an octagonal roof (I speak of the one 
now before me ; they are variously built) resting on eight posts, 
and terminating in a cupola. This roof, which runs high, is 
often the pleasant resort and building place, of large flocks of 
doves. 

The mill is constructed like a tanner's bark-mill. The 
wheel is of large circumference, and of heavy w^ood, some- 
times bolted together with iron, and sometimes only cleated, 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 53 

but weighing a ton. This moves in a narrow walled way, a 
foot and a half deep, half filled with coffee berries, the quan- 
tity generally preventing the crushing of the seed,. The wheel 
moves round with rapidity, drawn by mules, on a fast trot, with 
a negro sitting on the axle of the wheel to which they are har- 
nessed, to lash them into speed, himself moving in a whirl which 
might addle some men's brains. A rake of two stout teeth, 
hung to the axle, follows in the track of the wheel, constantly 
shifting, and lightening the bed. 

When, by this process, the skin of the cherry is bruised off, 
it is sifted through a heading sieve, constructed of wire, one- 
third of an inch apart, and called No. 3. This operation is 
performed in the centre circle of the mill, and the unbruised 
cherries are again submitted to the wheel. That portion which 
goes through the sieve, is transferred to the fanning mill, in a 
convenient building near by. 

The fanning mill is constructed on the principle of a machine 
for winnowing grain. The hull, or cherry skin, is thrown out 
by the revolving fan, the clear coffee, good and bad, falls 
through a wire sieve. Any cherries which had escaped the 
mill, and other rubbish, fall through a conductor at the side, 
and are returned to the mill. The coffee is next transferred to 
the divider, a machine recently invented by Mr P. Chartrand, 
and made in Carolina, not as yet extensively introduced. 

The divider is formed on a principle analogous to the rice 
mill sand screen. It has a hopper like the fan mill, through 
which the coffee falls on an inclined plane of wire, just large 
enough to suffer the blighted and broken kernels to fall through; 
the large and fair pass to a coarser sieve, and fall into a heap 
or bag at pleasure, and anything still coarser, which escapes 
over this sieve, falls on the floor, to be thrown away, or re- 
turned to the mill. 

The business of hand-picking is thus almost completed by 
machinery. But, lest anything should escape, which should 
discredit the coffee, it passes the table of sharp-eyed and expe- 



-54 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

rienced pickers, who determine its three qualities with accu- 
racy. By means of the divider, Mr M. doubles the quantity 
of hand-picked coffee in a day ; his negroes picking six bags 
without the divider, and twelve with it. 

There is a great extent of wall building on this estate ; ulti- 
mately, it will be enclosed, and in part traversed, by this beau- 
tiful and permanent fence. Four negroes were building ; and 
with the materials carted to the spot, and laid in a double train, 
two negroes will lay thirty feet in a day. It is two feet and a 
half at the base, and drawn in to one and a half at the top, and 
is four feet and a half high. It is made of broken limestone, 
in pieces of moderate size, with a face on both sides of the 
wall, and filled up with smaller fragments. It is firm, having 
no frost, and few accidents to disturb it ; and when new, has a 
chalky whiteness, but loses lustre by age and weather. The 
material, on most estates, costs little, being broken into suitable 
size for walls, by the sledges of negroes clearing the land. 

Mr M. is attempting something like farming on his estate ; is 
walling in, a night and day pasture ; intends to keep fifty cows, 
and furnish butter for the market. He secures water, by dig- 
ging lagunas, to be filled in the rainy season, and has already 
extensive pasturage of guinea grass. He raises hogs for sale ; 
and tobacco, which is manufactured into cigars on the place. 
He sells a considerable quantity of corn. By his farming, he 
is determined to bear the expenses of the plantation, and that 
the crop of coffee shall be net gain. 

His negroes are strictly governed, and by his own account, 
with some rigor. Peccadilloes are punished by the drivers, 
with three strokes of the lash ; greater offences by the mayoral, 
with tv^entyfive ; and these officers are limited to those num- 
bers respectively. The master, for great ofifences, theft, drunk- 
enness, &:c, takes the liberty of ordering, sometimes, two hun- 
dred lashes ; but nurses the wounded back with great care. 
From my window I observed the negroes assembled in order 
a little after daybreak, to see correction by the mayoral. I 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 55 

heard the snap of the lash, but no other noise ; and the negroes 
retired from the parade in Indian file. I heard ten lashes more 
when I was a half mile on my way. 



LETTER XVI. 

TO MRS E A . 

March 8th, 182S. 

Through a sugar and coffee estate we had a pleasant morn- 
ing ride to Mr M.'s to breakfast. This gentleman is from Car- 
olina, has an extensive estate ; and lives in a mansion which 
cost $40,000, placed on a conical hill, from which he looks 
down on a coffee and sugar estate in a fruitful valley, where the 
red soil is several yards deep. The cane was about as large as 
on the black soil, and from twelve to fifteen feet high, the first 
season of grinding. The proprietor expects by using the tops 
of the cane, as manure for the coffee-trees, to obtain as much 
coffee from 150,000 trees, as was formerly obtained without 
manure from 300,000 trees. 

He has a hundred and eighty negroes. In five years, he lost 
but four negroes, and two of them by drowning. In the last 
year he lost sixteen, chiefly by a prevailing dysentery. He 
has a mason, who is invaluable to him ; and who in his absence 
sleeps in the piazza for his mistress's security. He lives by 
himself, and his wife is nurse in the hospital. Mr M. formerly 
kept the Creoles in the hospital, for the sake of their being more 
carefully and skilfully nursed. But perceiving that the negroes 
were anxious to have their children in their huts, to give them 
portions of their own allowance, and to enjoy their company, 
he has gratified them. The hospital is a stone building with a 
yard walled in, airy and commodious. 

On this estate the cane is ground by steam, and the nuts re- 
volve in a horizontal position, and all danger from feeding the 
nuts is prevented. This method is economical and humane 5 



56 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

economical, because 200 lbs. of coal will carry the machine for 
a day ; it is humane, as night grinding is unnecessary, for the 
mill in a part of the day, yields more cane juice than supplies 
the kettles ; and the negroes get their full rest on this estate. 
They are engaged in boiling six hours, off and on, day and 
night. They have rations of fish and meat, every day ; have 
a doctor when sick, and as much land allowed them to culti- 
vate for themselves, as they can keep clean ; and accompani- 
ments to their fish and cane, as much as they desire. 

As we entered the spacious yard of this house, we were in- 
spired with some degree of awe of the powerful little animal, the 
bibiagua, of which we had seen much before. A regular siege 
had been carried on against a bibiagua for six months ; this 
subterranean fortress had been penetrated through soil and rocks, 
twenty feet in a perpendicular descent ; and its foundations had 
not been broken up. There was no suspicion of their invasion 
in this favorite spot, set with valuable trees, shrubs and flowers, 
till in one night they stripped the choicest of the flowers and 
plants of every leaf. 

This valuable house has been struck by lightning, and was 
instantly in flames ; but a flood of rain falling, it was soon ex- 
tinguished. Thirty or forty square yards were ripped from the 
roof, and not a vestige of the material was to be found. The 
plaistering over head of three chambers was stripped off, and 
different parts of the house, some of them eighty feet apart in- 
jured, and the bolt descending by a post, passed into a tank 
and disappeared through a perforation a foot and a half from 
the bottom. The tank had litde water in it. No individual 
was essentially injured. The house is now protected by rods. 

This place is well furnished with water. There is a well 
180 feet deep, and from ten to thirty feet of water in it. For 
the accommodation of the family, they have a tank sixty feet 
long, twelve wide and eleven deep. We observed also a lagu- 
na, surrounded by the ornamental bamboo ; but in this uncom- 
monly dry year, it appeared to have no water. A branch of 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 57 

the Canima river passes through a part of this estate, and dis- 
appearing in a Sumidero, one of those large pits with which 
this region is distinguished, it again bursts forth to view after a 
subterranean course of a quarter of a mile. 

Mr M. the sensible proprietor of this estate, thinks that slaves 
are in a more favorable situation in this country than in our own, 
that they work no more,* have a more varied and comfortable 
fare, and can if they please, easily work out their freedom. 
They have certain privileges, as much land as they choose to 
till well, and the whole produce to sell in corn or pork, or what 
they please. I have myself seen a negro's hog worth ^50. 
The government favors manumission. If a negro can pay to 
his master the price he paid for him, he must let him go. If 
they do not agree^ the Captain of the partido directs a commis- 
sion to settle his price, and the master must take it. If he pays 
a part of the price, his master must release his service in pro- 
portion to the sum paid. If at the master's death the whole is 
not paid, he may then pay the rest and be free. The number 
of free negroes on this island is very great, which is an evidence 
of the liberality of government in this regard, and, I trust, of 
the humanity of masters. 

With respect to the talents of negroes, it is observed that 
they have no great judgment in planning, but can execute and 
imitate as well as the Chinese. The walls they build are math- 
ematically exact, and as neat as those laid by a white man, and 
as rapidly built. 

A new species of domestic animal is found in the space 
walled in, round this house — the genuine terrapin. I believe 
the animals were imported. They feed on guinea grass as con- 
tentedly as oxen, and wandering about the garden eat the fallen 
flowers- They burrow into the earth to get out of the sun, and 
drop their eggs carelessly and without hatching, probably be- 

♦Ofthisldoubt. 



58 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

cause they have not sand to receive them and to perform the of- 
fice of Incubation. They are very delicious eating. 

The habitation of a runaway negro had been recently dis- 
covered, and some of his furniture was brought in to his mas- 
ter. Imprimis, a pouch manufactured in the Guinea style, 
with a lappet and a separate cap to shut over it for the more 
perfect security of the treasure within. This consisted of his 
name, written by his master as a passport, a fetiche, two keys, 
probably to open his master's store-houses, money carefully 
done up in a rag, a wax candle of his own manufacture, and 
sundry other things. Whether he was of a hospitable turn, or 
wished to accommodate a friend, or designed to have a family, 
or to keep tavern, is not known ; but he had three bedsteads set 
up in his hut. He had also prudently laid in provisions. One of 
his master's pigs had been very nicely butchered, and preserved 
perfectly delicate with lime-juice. These facts indicate some 
talent, and forethought, and industry to provide for his com- 
fort. 

It is a pretty common thing on estates for negroes to make 
their escape into the woods, and lead a wild life. There are 
some, who have been years in the enjoyment of stolen liberty ; 
and probably there are hundreds, perhaps thousands in this 
condition. Sometimes they do not even go off from the es- 
tates of their master, and come to his tank for water, and to his 
fields and pens for provisions. One of these wild men from 
Mr S.'s estate, had committed some serious offence, and was 
trammelled with irons. He watched his opportunity and esca- 
ped into the woods, and though soon pursued, he had rid him- 
self of his clanking chains, by which he might be traced. 
With lime-juice and his machet he had sawed off his irons ; and 
one piece, too large to yield suddenly to this method, he had 
battered off between two stones. Some gentlemen, some time 
after, who were in pursuit of other negroes, came by surprise 
on this man. He was hunting a hautour, a kind of tree wood- 
chuck, and so intense in his watch of the animal on the tree. 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 59 

that he easily fell into the hands of the hunters, who restored 
him to his niaster. ^ * ■» * « 

This family, with whom we passed a few hours breakfasting 
and dining, is very interesting. They have children at home 
under a domestic teacher, and children abroad for their educa- 
tion. The establishment in' doors and out, I should like to see 
more leisurely, and I hope to comply with their invitation to 
spend a few days with them, on ray return from Havana. 

At three o'clock we left Mr M.'sin company with our friends 
Mr and Mrs S. The copious showers, which had almost del- 
uged the Sumidero, had not reached in this direction six miles, 
and our ride vvas very dusty. We passed two coffee estates near 
Mr M.'s, beautifully adorned with avenues and lime hedges of 
vivid green. Nothing is more common than to see bahouca, 
(bejucoj) or vines of many species, running with luxuriance 
over the trees, great and small, of the forest. Many of them 
commence their growth, and fasten their roots in the top of a 
tree, and thence run downwards and fasten themselves again in 
the ground. They are sometimes seen hanging above, and 
waving in the air below, without any fixture to the ground. 
I have seen a vine as big as my finger, fastened above, and, two 
yards before it came to the ground, sending out a dozen fila- 
ments, evidently intended to fix in the ground as roots, though 
they had not yet been able to reach it. These vines are every 
where seen in the woods, and often form symmetrical arbors, 
circular or oval, that would be beautiful in the most tasteful gar- 
dens. But of all sights, the most amusing, and that continually 
to be seen, is the Scotchman hugging the Creole, as it is very 
significantly called. This often takes place on the loftiest trees 
of the forest, — especially the ceyba. The bahouca, (bejuco,) 
descends from the top, and rises from the ground, and winds 
round the trunk of the tree, and by its many convolutions literal- 
ly webs over ^he trunk, grows into itself, branch with branch, 
and looks like an immense serpent wreathing about its victim. 
The efiect is ever the same. The creole, the original tree, is 



60 LETTERS PROM CUBA. 

smothered in the hostile embrace. It commences a premature 
decay, rots, falls by piecemeal, becomes a mere skeleton, and 
finally disappears, leaving the parasitical bahouca, changed in its 
very nature from vine to tree, in prosperous possession of the 
ground. The trunk of the murderous tree near the ground is 
irregular, openworked, but vigorous and healthy, with a top 
running high, and sometimes with branches from two feet 
to three and a half in diameter. At the ground, I have 
measured a space of from six to seven feet between the thrifty 
parts of the upstart tree. These parts become united twenty 
or thirty feet from the ground, in a solid trunk, and send out 
branches two feet in diameter. The leaf of the new tree is 
not always the same, but the limb when cut, always sends out 
a milky sap. 



LETTER XVn. 

TO MISS M— S A 



Matanzas, March 9th, 182S. 

* * * We arrived at Matanzas at the dusk of even- 
ing without any material incident, and I was pleasantly domes- 
ticated with my friend B. in his spacious bachelor's hall, 
agreeably to an invitation given in the country. 

On the sabbath, the bell at an early hour invited us to mass ; 
and again at eight and twelve. At ten I repaired to the 
church, expecting a service, but was disappointed. A half 
dozen ladies were retiring, and conversing with glee ; but 
duly touched the holy water in the fount near the door and 
crossed themselves. A grave lady of seventy, with a counte- 
nance of sincere devotion, passed me at the door, with a highly 
ornamented cross on her finger. The church being open and 
empty, I ventured in to survey the structure and ornaments. 1 
should judge it to be eighty feet long, and cruciform ; the 
principal altar, forming the head piece, and two other altars in 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 61 

spacious recesses, forming the cross ; an open space extending 
down to the eastern entrance confipleting the floor. A cupola 
or tower, with two bells at one corner of the eastern end, has 
been recently added to what appears to be an ancient structure; 
and, when convenient, a corresponding tower at the other end 
is to be added. The external appearance of the building is not 
imposing by its grandeur or beauty. The ornaments within are 
somewhat gorgeous ; but not in very good taste. In the recess of 
the left as you face the principal altar, in a niche of the wall, 
stands the figure of the patron saint of the city, St. Carlo ; and 
in a corresponding niche on the right, is another saint, probably 
an apostle. 

The altar is adorned with a small figure of Christ cruci- 
fied; and beside the sacred ark, are cherubim or angels. 
The paintings about the church have an antique appear- 
ance ; the coloring is fine, and so are some of the faces. The 
most considerable which in a hasty glance I noticed, seemed 
to be of the holy Virgin, ascending, and with a crown on her 
head, while a group of devotee women were looking upward 
with an air of grief or of supplication, I was at a loss to decide 
which. 

The area of the church is open, and without furniture, ex- 
cept a few settees scattered here and there, intended, perhaps, 
for the infirm and aged, but commonly occupied by the less 
devout, as I afterwards observed. 

At twelve o'clock, by invitation, I went to church with Mr 
and Mrs S., under the protection of a Spanish lady.. There 
were about two hundred worshippers and spectators present. 
The ladies have a church dress, from which it is either unfash- 
ionable or sinful to vary. At this time, it being Lent, it is a 
black gown, black shoes, and black veil. They entered with 
servants bearing rugs, which being spread, they kneeled, and 
commonly the servants kneeled behind them. The ladies 
were in a kneeling posture through the service, except that 
many of them, weary of that attitude, sought relief by silting. 



62 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

like persons of another religion, upon their carpets. From 
this attitude, however, at the sound of a small bell, they re- 
sumed the kneeling posture. At the same signal the gentle- 
men, usually standing, or sitting on the settees, spread a hand- 
kerchief on the pavement and kneeled. 

The service was short, — perhaps fifteen or twenty minutes, 
consisting of prayers read rapidly, not heard, except in a low 
murmuring voice, a word not being distinguishable by a single 
worshipper. In general, the officiating priest was with his 
face towards the altar, and of course his back towards the as- 
sembly, so that they must have heard with difficulty, even if he 
had spoken with distinctness. But to be heard was not intend- 
ed ; for if heard it would have been useless, as the prayers 
were in an unknown tongue. It was simply pantomimic devo- 
tion — form, exhibited to the eye — and nothing else. The priest 
alone, received the wafer and the cup ; and if I mistake not, 
it was at the moment of his receiving the wafer and the cup 
severally, that the bell was rung, that all in the church might 
simultaneously kneel. 

Accustomed to Protestant worship, which, very naturally, 
appears to me more intellectual, instructive, and spiritual, this 
scene was not highly edifying. Yet, I deny not that there was 
a solemnity in the scene, which may have been impressive to 
some. The almost twilight darkness of the church ; the ta- 
pers burning at noon-day ; the profound stillness of the assem- 
bly, and the prostration of the greater part of it, master and 
slave, mistress and serving woman, kneeling together in an 
open space without distinction, as equally needing and suppli- 
cating mercy of their common Creator ; was an impressive 
scene. It was an appeal, partly to the senses, and partly to 
the imagination, and for the passing moment with some effect. 
But the understanding not having been enlightened, nor the af- 
fections interested by a distinct exhibition of truth, and duty, 
or a detailed confession of sin, I should judge the impression to 
be vague and generalizing, and not tending to the correction of 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 63 

the errors of the heart and life ; not likely to be followed by 
the necessary fruits of repentance, and a really devout and 
holy life. 

It would be disingenuous to condemn in the whole the offi- 
ces of religion, because performed in a manner widely from 
one's own experience ; and I doubt not, that in some Catholic 
hearts the religious principle is so strong that it is fed and com- 
forted by means and ceremonies so jejune. But what is the 
influence of this system of religion on the mass of population 
in this city and this country ? In Matanzas, there is a popula- 
tion of ten or twelve thousand, and but a single church. Mass 
is said at different hours from early morning to meridian ; to 
three successive assemblies of perhaps one hundred and fifty, 
or two hundred souls, chiefly females ; and not an audible word 
of instruction is given. Whatever benefit is to be derived from 
visiting the church, is shared by a very small portion of the 
people, — nine thousand, out of ten thousand, probably nine- 
teen individuals out of twenty, have neither part nor lot in the 
benefit, whatever it may be. The influence of fifteen minutes 
in the church, if salutary, seems soon dissipated by the business 
and amusement without its walls. The shops are open ; the 
cockpit fuller than on busier days of the week, and the streets 
thronged with volantes ; the theatre and* ball-room crowded ; 
and the city devoted to pleasure. How many of those, who 
kneel in the church, retire to kneel or read, or reflect in secret, 
and how many hasten to mingle in the scenes just described, 
is known to God. 

But a New England sabbath is a difierent scene. The 
streets are still till the bell announces the hour of worship ; they 
are then thronged with young and old, and the extensive church 
is filled with the contributions of two hundred families. In a 
town of twelve thousand inhabitants, there are as many church- 
es as thousands, and as many ministers to lead their flocks into 
the green pastures of the word of God, and by the still waters 
of his holy ordinances. The prayers are intelligible, and the 



64 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

instruction given in the discourses of the morning and evening, 
is adapted to the capacities and wants, the frailties and sorrows 
of the listening auditors. That instruction flows from pure 
lips ; for an immoral minister is not tolerated either by the peo- 
ple or the priesthood ; and ordinarily the sacred precept is en- 
forced by the pastoral example. 

When the services of the church are over, there are no 
amusements to dissipate the sigh of contrition breathed in the 
sanctuary, or to bury in forgetfulness the instruction received, 
and the good purposes formed of a life more devoted to God 
and virtue. The parents return to their private dwellings to 
prolong their devotions, and to compare the instruction they 
have received'^with the unerring word of God. The children 
remain in the Sabbath school, to recite their elementary les- 
'sons to select and skilful teachers, that they may be early ground- 
ed in the truths and duties of our holy religion. Such is a 
New England sabbath 5 grave, yet cheerful 5 a day of rest to 
the body, but of delightful activity and elevation to the mind. 
It is not, indeed, all we could wish it. The teachers have 
their frailties ; for " to err is human;" sometimes devoting to 
abstruse subjects, the time which is needed for plain preaching ; 
and sometimes kindling the flames of discord, instead of fan- 
ning the fire of charity and brotherly love. The people too, 
are imperfect, some inconstant in attendance, others critical 
and faultfinding in hearing, rather than receiving with meekness 
the engrafted word ; condemning both preacher and assembly, 
according to the suspicion of party feeling, or the use or neglect 
of a short vocabulary. These are evils incidental to religious 
liberty, and to the privilege and duty of every one to judge, 
having the sacred test of truth in his hands, what is right. They 
are evils, however, dishonorable to the cause of our common 
Master, and giving occasion to its enemies to blaspheme, and 
are therefore to be suppressed with the utmost care. 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 65 

LETTER XVIII. 

TO MISS E-- A . 



Matanzas, March 11th, 182S. 

I HAVE been gratified to see your hand in numerous letters. 
Just at this moment, the servant put into my hand a packet of 
January 2Sth. The letters arrive, as men go to their graves, 
without order or regard to age. The day before yesterday, I 
received the letters of 17th February, referring to others, writ- 
ten the 7th, 8ih, 9th of the same month, which I have not yet 
received. But all is well — The winds are not as regular as the 
mail. I have much delight in prospect ; and how many letters 
from my very kind, very affectionate, and truly loved family, 
are on the way to their grateful husband and father, I know not. 
I only ask that you will not he weary in well dGing ; and that 
you will have patience with me, and I will pay you all. This 
last arrival is a delightful effusion from you all. As iron sharp- 
eneth iron, so does Dr F. the thoughts of my family. Your 
last was written on the day of his ever welcome services in my 
pulpit. ■» * * 

Will it not delight your warm little heart, that I address a 
sheet to you, which, of course, you will have the undisputed 
right of reading first to yourself, and then (if there be no se- 
crets in it,) to the family ? Of this honor, you will, of course, 
be a little vain, when you consider from what a distant land your 
correspondent addresses you ; and to maintain your part with 
dignity in our future correspondence, you will doubtless be dil- 
igent to inform your mind, to improve your style, and to render 
distinct and elegant, your chirography. In each of these par- 
ticulars, I think improvement is discerned ; a pledge to an af- 
fectionate father, of elegant scholarship, if your life and health 
should be spared a few years longer. 

I have been a few days in this city, but have not patroled the 
narrow streets, very much, on account of the heat, and reflec- 
9 



66 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

tion of the rays of the sun from the whitewashed houses. 
But much is not lost to n\j curiosity. Generally, the houses 
make an indifferent appearance, being of a single story ; this, 
however, on the principal streets, is often 20 feet high. The 
roofs are commonly tiled, sometimes shingled, and some of the 
more ancient, thatched, as in the country, with palm leaves. I 
will describe to you a friend's house, which is a favorable speci- 
men of the better sort. You enter, from the street, a square 
room, a part of which often accomodates a large, clumsy, one 
horse carriage, called a volante, and the rest serves as an entry 
to the dwelling part of the 1 ouse. The drawing room or par- 
lor is also on the street, with two monstrous windows, wide 
enough to admit the volante, and fifteen feet from top to bot- 
tom. Instead of glass, there, is an iron or wooden grating to 
the window and the ladies behind it look like nuns who have 
taken the "veil. As these immense windows reach down near- 
ly to the floor, the family is virtually in the street, and whether 
dining or supping, working or playing, conversing wisely or 
foolishly, in good company, or otherwise, all is open to the curi- 
ous. Sometimes, however, a screen is interposed. The door 
which opens into this room, is opposite one of these windows, 
and a good sized load of hay might drive through it. These 
vast apertures, though somewhat odd to strangers, are conve- 
nient to the tenants, who thus obtain a cheering current of air in 
this torrid climate. On this 11th of PJarch, I am almost melt- 
ed ; what will the poor souls do, when the sun is vertical ? 
Through the door, just described, you pass into a court, open 
to the sky, at the right and left of which, are sleeping chambers, 
and in front the kitchen. Their floors are of plaister, and what 
with shuffling of the feet, moving of tables and chairs, and 
leaning back in them, according to the uncivil fashion of 
loungers in New England, it is unavoidable, that lime dust 
should be ground out, and be flapped by the breeze, entering 
so freely, on tables and chairs. Yet i( not so neat as our paint- 
ed wooden floors, well washed once or twice a week, they are 
charmingly cool. 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 67 

It is Thursday; and a little after day brea^c, I r-^se, adjusted 
my toilet, and went to matins or mass; — I know not how, ac- 
curately, to phrase it. There were about 20 persons in the 
church, and generally on their knees in the open area ; some 
kneeling on rugs, and soixe on white handkerchiefs. There 
were about a half a dozen ladies in b'ack gowns and veils. 
The men were, in general, old and grey leaded. Negroes 
came in, and had equal privileges w^ith whites, advance I rs 
near to the altar as others, and with a coarse black shawl, 
kneeled by the side of lace veils. This pleased me ; for all 
are equal beggars when they appear before God ; and costume 
is litde, the heart everything. Some, as they entered, touched 
the consecrated water with a finger, and crossed themselves as 
they advanced, and kneeled ; others crossed themselves only. 
The priest entered from a vestry room, through a door screened 
by a red curtain. On his head was a black cap, and over his 
shoulders depended a mantle, striped with gold lace. His m- 
der dress was rather feminine ; a gown of white muslin, 
flounced at the bottom, and reaching to his shoes. He uncov- 
ered his head and began the service in a solemn, but inaudible 
voice. A little boy attended him, to hand the utensils in the 
service, and, I thought, to respond, in some of the brief 
prayers. On elevating the hosty now, a water, now, a cup con- 
taining consecrated wine, the litde boy, three times, and loudly, 
rang a litde bell ; the people crossed themselves, and some 
smote their breasts with a heavy stroke. The priest alone, 
tasted the cup. He occasionally bowed the knee before the 
cross, and several times kissed the altar. Two or three times, 
he turned his face to the people, and parted his hands, as if 
conferring his benediction. On closing the brief service, the 
litde boy handed him his cap, and he retired through the cur- 
tained door. He re-appeared a few minutes afterwards, in a 
black gown, passed by the front altar, bowed the knee as he 
passed another altar, at the right hand, and took his seat in a 
kind of a mahogany sentry-box, with a canopy over it, several 



63 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

of which are in the floor of the church. Here he glanced an 
eye round on the persons kneeling, and, in two or three min- 
utes, returned into the vestry, again bowing the knee, as he 
passed the altar. 1 did not know, at the time, the object of 
those boxes, and of the priest's sitting in one, but am informed, 
it is the confessionary, and the priest repairs to it, to afford any 
one an opportunity to confess. The sides are full of little 
holes, that if the penitent is unwilling to be seen by the priest, 
he may whisper into his ear, unseen. If, on this occasion, 
there were any confessions, they were very short. 

Now, my dear child, I have given you a brief account of 
Catholic worship. I would not say that it is unedifying to 
Catholics ; indeed of the few worshippers present, most had 
much appearance of solemnity and feeling. I hope it was 
heartfelt, and acceptable to God. To me, however, who 
know too little of the meaning of all I saw, it was bodily exer- 
cise, which projiteth little. The people worship, I may say, 
by proxy ; the priest prays, but is not heard, and if he were, 
it is in an unknown tongue. It is worship addressed to the eyes 
only ; a solemn pantomime which may affect the imagination, 
and awaken feeling, but not adapted, I should think, to produce 
distinct thoughts of the great Object of worship. It seems not 
likely to carry the thoughts beyond the cross, and the awful 
sufferer there, to God, the ultimate object of homage and trust. 
I should fear that worshippers in this mode, stop at the door, 
instead of entering into the presence of the great Supreme, and 
that they confound in their minds, the one God, with the one 
Mediator between God and man. However, my dear child, 
I have lived too long, and observed too much, to condemn, 
with bitter censures, those who differ from me in modes and 
forms, and even in faith. I will hope that, when I saw the 
breast smitten, with an earnestness like that of the Publican, 
there was true contrition ; and that instruction given by simple 
signs, may cleave to the heart with a renovating influence. It 
becomes all to remember, that without holiness, all worship is 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 69 

vain ; and that with holiness, many errors will be forgiven by a 
God delighting in mercy. Let me hope, my dear child, that 
with more ample instruction than is here enjoyed, with the 
Scriptures open before you, with weekly exhortations in the 
sanctuary, with the pure elements of the Gospel imparted to 
you in the Sabbath School, with domestic devotions, and songs 
to enkindle pious affections, you will indeed be a pious child ; 
that to means so ample, you will add your own humble en- 
deavors and prayers daily ; and may God bless my child and 
make her his. 



LETTER XIX. 

TO MRS A E G 



Matanzas, March 13th, 1S28. 
I AM almost ashamed to sit down again to write another let- 
ter to go by the same vessel, for which I have already written 
three, two of them, long enough for a half dozen. But I know 
you will excuse what flows from affection, and at the same time, 
pleasantly employs my time. Last evening, Mr F.'s clarionet 
lulled me to sleep about ten o'clock, and this morning, I rose at 
the tolling of the bell for matins. With a huge cane, to defend 
myself from dogs, no despicable danger in this country, I 
sallied out to witness the scene in the church, and to join in the 
devotion, so far as a Protestant conscientiously might, and on a 
consecrated spot, at least to be devout in my own way. I have 
been analyzing my motives for going ; and possibly, curiosity, a 
desire to form an equitable idea of Catholic worship, that I 
might do it no injustice in my thoughts, or my descriptions, and 
the love I feel for a house of God, and for anything, which 
can seem sincere worship of the Supreme Being, all entered 
into the complex motive, which carried me abroad so early, for 
it was yet dark, when I reached the church. The doors were 
not yet opened, and I surveyed the exterior, and measured as 



70 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

well as I could, its length and breadth. It is larger than I had 
judged it to be. The length of the building is about 135 feet. 
This measure, however, includes the appendage to the west 
end, which is, J suppose, the residence of the priests, as well as 
the vestry. This is its form. 



c^I -3 — r 

o ui L 



"135 i_r 

Over the centre is a concave, and a semi-concave on three sides. 
There is nothing elegant in the material or finish of the exterior, 
nor of the interior, except that the altars are with gorgeous or- 
naments ; twisted pillars, adorned with brass or gold leaf. 
Over a side altar, I observed a small glazed recess, the shrine 
of the Virgin, I believe in wax. In two recesses or niches, 
with splendid apparel, were two saints, as I observed, in a for- 
mer letter ; one, the patron saint of the city, with a mitre and a 
crosier, and the other, with something like a crown. It was 
still dark when I entered the church, and I passed a devotee 
near the door, the only one arrived. He was contemplating a 
painting of the Saviour, I think as baptized of John ; and stood 
crossing himself, with much appearance of mental prayer. 
Soon after, he advanced to a picture of the Virgin, and his de- 
votions were renewed, and near that spot, he sunk on his knees. 
An attendant came in, and from a lamp burning in the centre 
of the church, lighted two wax tapers, and set them on the 
front altar. Worshippers began to come in, and [ recognised 
the faces of most whom I had seen there before, which led me 
to think that they were nearly the same individuals, who ahvays 
attend. The old men were the same, and some of the women. 
Three negro boys, well dressed, came in and kneeled on their 
handkerchiefs ; after a while, they rose, and went nenr a side 
altar, and kpeeled again, and in the most solemn part of the ser- 
vice, they advanced beyond all others, and kneeled on the step 
leading towards the front altar, where the priest was officiating. 
A black woman decently dressed, advanced far, and kneeled ; 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 71 

rose and kneeled again close to a side altar, and after service, if 
I was not mistaken in the individual, she was full ten minutes 
kneeling and confessing to a priest. Several ladies came in 
and kneeled on nigs, spread by a servant, who kneeled behind 
them. Some of them had prayer books in which they read ; 
and then, closing them, clasped their hands, looking to the 
altar and cross, fs if in mental prayer. The countenances of 
several, which I had seen in church before, were those of sincere 
and intense devotion: I saw none that came in without crossing 
themseU^es, and most of them, after touching the holy wat er ; the 
first that I mentioned, who was alone in the church w^hen I en- 
tered, made sundry applications to the font, and then to his 
crown, and face and breast. The service was the same as 
mentioned in a former letter ; short and inaudible; fullofgenu- 
flectirns, bending of the body, osculation of the altar, elevation 
of the host, and parting of the hands, as the priest turned and 
looked at the people. 

After the service was closed, the officiating priest retired 
into the vestry and returned in a black gown and sjt in one of 
the confessionaries. The negro, just mentioned, was the first 
to confess, and was long and earnest, resting her hand against 
the side of the confessionary, holding a shawl up, as if to pre- 
vent being seen and heard. She applied her mouth to a tin 
plate full of small holes or perforations, as of a grater, on one 
side, and the priest his ear on the other. When she retired, 
several were in waiting, kneeling near by, and one or two of 
them reading in their prayer book. But the priest beckoned 
an infirm old man, and he approached and kneeled on his foot- 
stool in front. The priest rested his hand on the penitent's 
shoulder, and their heads being near together, a short confes- 
sion was made, and I presume, absolution given, as he was one 
of two only, who kneeled a little while after, at the side altar, 
and received the wafer. As soon as he retired, an elderly 
woman kneeled at the side of the confessionary, and was 'Soon 
dismissed. A young lady then kneeled, with her face turned 



73 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

to the wall ; but the priest for the present, neglecting his office, 
beckoned to an officer in partial uniform, several times. He, 
however, not understanding his intention, or perhaps, wishing 
to decline confession, kept his place in the floor. The priest 
then descended from the confessionary and reached out his 
hand to him, for a pinch of snuff, which was readily granted, 
and he returned to listen to the youthful and beautiful sinner, 
still patiently kneeling. 

This scene affected me. Why this kneeling to a human 
creature, in confession, while, if real penitents, they might go to 
the Fountain of mercy, and cry with David, against thee, thee 
only, have I sinned, and with the Publican, God he merciful to 
me a sinner, and return in peace. 

During these confessions, and in full view of them, another 
service was preparing and performing at the altar in the right 
hand recess, where, above the cross, the Virgin is enshrined. 
Another priest in white, with a resplendent mantle depending 
from his shoulders, attended by a priest in black, half covered 
by a short white frock, commenced a service, in which the con- 
secrated wafer was to be given to persons kneeling at the en- 
closure. As the service here, and at the principal altar were 
both inaudible, I could not ascertain in what respects they dif- 
fered, except that here was chanting. A priest, far off in the 
gallery chanted, and a response was made from the altar. It 
ceased, and incense was burned, and the host and cross en- 
veloped in the smoke. Brief prayers were recited, and the 
priests at the altars chanted, and the priest in the distant gal- 
lery responded. I thought I could distinguish among the words, 
^\Ave Maria.''^ The host was elevated, after the usual gen- 
uflections; the incense was repeated; and the priest, with a 
silver chalice in his hand, advanced to the enclosure, and laid 
the adored wafer in the mouth of a middle aged female and an 
old man. The latter manifested considerable emotion, eagerly 
bending forward to receive, as he esteemed it, the real body 
and blood of his Lord. Ah me ! how simple was the ordi- 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 73 

nance as Christ left it, the very point of which, is given in those 
few words of the Institutor, — This do in remembrance of me. 
Whence are derived these additions, which draw away the 
mind of the communicant, to anything, rather than the design 
of the institution ? The adoring postures of the body, the 
chants to the Virgin, iff am correct, the fumes of incense, the 
gift of the wafer, and the denial of the cup : — in vain 1 look for 
these things in Matthew or Mark, Luke or Paul. It must be 
acknowledged that Catholic views of this ordinance would be 
very affecting, if they were just and true ; but we must be as 
cautious not to add anything to the word of God, as not to take 
anything away ; the curse is denounced against both errors, if 
wilful. " My dear Sir," said an ardent Catholic to me, " how 
different are your views of the Lord's Supper, from ours ! You 
receive bread and wine, in remembrance of the death of Christ. 
But when we kneel at the altar, and the host is elevated, we see 
our God ; when the priest places Vv-ilhin our lips the consecrated 
wafer, we receive our God ; we swallow it and are filled with 
our God." Inpossible ; for how can a material vessel contain 
an infinite spirit. No such thing is taught, is intimated in the 
word of God, but the contrary — JYo man hath seex God at 
any time. A view or notion may be very affecting, yet very 
false, whether of the ordinance of the Supper, or of the person 
of the blessed Saviour. To make correct impressions on the 
mind and to excite suitable affections in the heart, our notions 
of both must not be extravagant, but true ; not superstitious, 
but just and scriptural. It is not safe to err on the right or the 
left. 

I have been minute in the narrative of the scenes of this 
morning, that you may judge of Catholic worship by facts, sim- 
ply stated ; not distorted. Have you not found the dying com- 
mand of Christ, observed with Protestant simplicity, deeply af- 
fecting to you, and among the most precious means of awaken- 
ing spiritual affections, and confirming pious resolutions, and 
filling the soul wiih hope, and peace, and joy .^ More and more 
10 



74 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

may it contribute to the vigor of your faith, and the brightness 
of your graces, till you may he translated to behold your Sa- 
viour, without the cloud of ordinances, in all his effulgent glory, 
at the right band of his Father. 

^ ^ * Mr C. and I have engaged horses for Havana, 
to start on Tuesday next at day break. We are to visit the 
Pan of Matanzas, sleep at Mrs J.'s coffee plantation ; next day 
visit the springs of Madruga, &z;c. In the third day, Deo vo- 
lente, we shall be in the neighborhood of Havana, but shall 
shun the spot if there is danger, which we shall ascertain by the 
safest counsel. Then we shall probably pass to the leeward, 
and spending a week or two, shall hope to return to Matanzas 
and Suraidtro ; a spot loved next, I may almost say, to home. 



LETTER XX. 

TO MRS E A 



Matanzas, March 14th, .1.828. 

* ^ * There is no subject so important as religion, 
involving, as it does, the dearest interests of both worlds } none 
about which there is such diversity of opinions, while it is great- 
ly important that we form those which are correct. We im- 
bibe instruction from parental lips and other sources, long 
before we are capable of forming a sound judgment, as to the 
correctness of it. It is right we should do so ; yet in maturer 
years, w^e should prove all things, and holdfast that, alone, 
which is good, xemernhQung that for the truths we embrace, 
and the rites we observe, we are responsible to God ; and that 
to our Master, we must stand or fall 

The Catholic religion is little understood in our land ; in the 
country, there are few that profess it, and in the city, there are 
few Protestants that frequent their meetings | and when they do, 
there is a degree of conformity to Protestant custom, at least, 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 75 

in giving instruction to the people, which makes the difference of 
the two forms of religion less striking — less revolting. I have 
long believed, that there has been a reforming influence from 
Protestantism in Rome itself; and it is to be expected, that 
this influence will be greater on a church settled in the midst 
of Protestants. I have occasionally, in my own country, at- 
tended Catholic worship on marked days in the calendar, and 
have heard the venerable Bishop Cheverus in a fine strain of 
persuasive eloquence ; one or two others of superior talents I 
have listened to with pleasure ; and this was seeing Romish 
priests to the highest advantage. 

In an island where there is no religion professed hut the 
Catholic, I have been anxious to see, and careful to observe 
how it appears at home. Though to different members of the 
family, I have already written much, I hope you will not be 
impatient in receiving still another letter on the subject. Last 
evening, in company v/ith Mr C. and Mr C, who understands 
Spanish well, we called on one of the most respectable of the 
padres, with a letter of recommendation. We found him at 
home, in a handsome and well-furnished house, fronting the 
Plaza, or mall of the city. Everything around him looked do- 
mestic, and asif he was litde acquainted with apostolic poverty. 
Pictures of high value, adorned his parlor and study. A 
library of several hundied volumes, and many in elegant bind- 
ings, with tables and leaves to accommodate a student, gave 
intimations of learning. A priest from Italy was introduced to 
us, and several ladies met us at the door, and were afterwards 
alluded to by the padre as his sisters. He is a fleshy, but good 
looking man, in a black cassock, and with a small tonsure of 
his bushy locks on the top of his head, shaven closer than his 
chin — it was, however, Saturday evening. We attempted con- 
versation in Latin, but on account of our different pronunciation 
of all the vowels, and some of the consonants, it was not an 
easy mode of communication. He was often, however, inielli- 
gible, and commonly prompt in his Latin, and generally compre- 



76 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

bended my meaning. Sometimes I availed myself of my inter- 
preter ; and our conversation took considerable range with 
regard to our several churches and views of religion. He 
wished to know, how my place was supplied in my absence, 
and whether I could communicate all my power to my substi- 
tute ; and if he could not marry in my absence, who could, — 
for people, in such cases, would not wait. 

We conversed on our different modes of communion, and he 
led me to a picture exactly like that which hangs in our parlor, 
and supposed our mode answered to it. Without enlarging, 
his manners were full of courtesy, and his conversation with- 
out bigotry; and to explain the Catholic mode of communion, 
he invited me to approach near the altar on the following morn- 
ing, when he should administer it. 

On the morning of the sabbath, I attended the earliest service 
of the church. The tapers were soon lighted at the left hand 
of the altar, and the attendant drew up the curtain, and reveal- 
ed the crucifixion in wooden or wax figures, as large as life. 
The sufferer had bowed his head, and given up the ghost. The 
countenance of death — the nails through his hands, knees, and 
feet — the blood gushing over his Ijmbs, and down his side, pre- 
sented an affecting, an awful object, which seemed to excite a 
strong emotion on those around me, as like the real spectators 
of the crucifixion, they smote on their breasts. Tbiee women, 
the virgin mother distinguished from the rest, stood and kneel- 
ed around the cross. 

Before this scene, an aged priest, his hair as white as snow, 
performed mass. Whether it was that the crucifixion is here 
more affectingly displayed, than at the other altars, or that the 
aged form of the priest, and his tremulous, yet louder voice, 
his longer pauses and prostrations, giving time for the feelings 
to rise and strengthen, and the greater appearance of his being 
himself moved, produced the effect, I know not, but the assem- 
bly was more generally affected than I had witnessed at any 
other performance of mass, and it was also, a larger assembly 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 77 

that attended. How lasting, how holy, how sanctifying were 
the impressions made, and the emotions kindled by this strong 
appeal to the senses, the great Searcher of hearts can tell. 
But I believe it is ever found, that passionate feelings subside 
quickly, whether produced by strong pictures addressed to the 
eye, vehement tones to the ear, or strong images to the imagi- 
nation ; and that, to affect a man lastingly, his understanding 
must be distinctly convinced and enlightened, and his con- 
science subjected to truth and principle. 

My friend, the padre, who had invited me to the church, 
had not yet appeared. 1 waited, therefore, through the inter- 
val of service, as did forty or fifty others, it may have been 
twenty minutes. The bell was again tolled, and at the same 
time, the distant note of the bugle was heard, alternating with 
the drum and fife, and a company of soldiers in uniform, with a 
quick step, and animated air, marched into the centre of the 
church, and stood ranged in a solid square. At the same time, 
my friend appeared at the front altar, in canonicals, attended by 
a cadet with his broadsword suspended from his shoulder be- 
hind him ; and as the priest kneeled, the drum and fife rang a 
shrill salute. The service was as usual, and at every signal of 
the little bell, the drum and fife cheered, and the church re- 
sounded with martial notes, in the most solemn crises of the 
service ; the soldiers kneeling, crossing themselves, and strik- 
ing upon the breast. The band seemed to go through the duty 
with the same precision, and with the same feelings, as through 
the drill on parade. 

My untrained feelings were somewhat shocked with the pomp 
and circumstance of war, thus mingled with the most awful 
rites of our religion — the clangor of arms with the holy com- 
munion, in which the soul wishes to muse in grateful and awful 
silence, and to dissolve in tears of love and contrition. 

The sabbath, seems no sabbath to me, in a Catholic country. 
Many shops I see open, and all kinds of articles are selling. 
The horses of burden, in strings of from ten to thirty, throng 



78 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

the streets. As you pass to church, even at sunrising, the 
noisy gaming tables force themselves on your notice, with eager 
gamblers pitching a coin at the columns of silver. Some with 
cocks are going to the pits, while a few are going to mass. 
Many resort to the country, to contemplate its beautiful scenes, 
and to enjoy its abundant hospitalities, and as a respite from the 
cares of the week. And some, I hope, in retirement, are 
seeking from prayer and the word of God, that instruction, and 
consolation, which are but sparingly, if at all, imparted in the 
sanctuary. The American merchants close their doors, and I 
believe merchants universally; and it is thought proper that the 
morning should be given to devotion, and the rest of the day, to 
amusement. But the number is small, who perform the first 
part of the arrangement, and with many, the whole day is de- 
voted to amusement, and, with not a few, to gambling and other 
vices, even more than ordinary days. 



LETTER XXI. 

TO MRS E A 



Matanzas, March 15th, 1828. 
* * * * Matanzas, by a sudden growth, has become 
a considerable city, and is destined to be a great one. Eight- 
een years ago it was but a little larger than Cardenas ; most of 
its growth has been within ten years. The country makes the 
town ; and the fertile region in its neighborhood, which is fast 
settling, and pouring its important staples into its bosom, will 
swell its population. The government is aware of its impor- 
tance and its prospects. Extensive barracks are building on 
a favorable site, on the western side of the bay ; and it is said 
that the custom-house will be removed to the same neighbor- 



LETTERS FROM CUBA» 79 

hood ; and even the bay to a certain depth of water at its 
southern extremity, is filled up, and let as building ground. It 
is possible, that the natural advantages of this harbor, its health- 
fulness, and the multiplying settlements around it, may render 
it as commercially important as Havana itself. 

The custom-house is conspicuously situated, on a rise of 
ground, in front of the town, and at the bottom of the bay. It 
is a handsome building, one story high, with a colonnade in 
front, and arches between the pillars, and is spacious and airy. 
There are not many buildings of much beauty in the place ; the 
handsomest are private. The plaza, or public square, is hand- 
some, though small, enclosing perhaps a couple of acres. In 
the centre of this square a monument is erecting it is supposed 
to receive a statue of their illustrious prince, Ferdinand. It is 
small at the base, and with a slender shaft, rising twelve or fif- 
teen feet. A flagged path leads to the monument from each 
corner ; and a smooth pavement of beaten mortar a dozen yards 
wide, with seats at small intervals, of stone covered with mortar, 
skirt the square. On two sides fronting the plaza, the houses 
are handsome : some of them ornamented with paintings of an 
humble character. A new house, for a lawyer, is up, but not 
finished, which exhibits much real taste, on the Spanish plan. 
Most of the houses of this place are of a single story ; but this 
is in parts from fifteen to twenty feet high. You enter through 
a spacious door into a hall, which serves for an entry, and fre- 
quently also to accommodate the volante. Besides this spacious 
entry, there is, fronting on the street also, the drawing-room, 
with two windows, wide enough to admit the volante, were they 
not obstructed by iron or wooden gratings, projecting a little 
way into the street. There is no glass to these windows, 
and the whole room is open to the closest inspection of 
the street. The door opposite the windows is fifteen feet 
high in the model before me, and proportionably wide ; the 
whole adapted to circulate a current of air in this hot climate 
through the house into a court in the style of an Eastern build- 
ing, at the end of which are pleasant lodging chambers. This 



80 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

mode of building is outre to American eyes, but I doubt not it 
is prudently adapted to a hot climate, as our mode is to a cold 
one. 

With a small party in a boat, under an awning, T had the 
pleasure of ascending about five or six miles the river San Juan, 
which enters the bay from the southeast. We had a better 
view of the town than we had seen from any other point. A 
large building on the border of the river was pointed out to us, 
which was the grand depository of piratical weahh, while those 
corsairs were unchecked. We passed by the spacious house 
occupied by the Governor, and the circus devoted to cockfight- 
ing, filled to overflowing with the sportsmen — and were soon 
beyond the city. We met many boats, some of which were 
American, returning with v^^ater dipped out of the stream. The 
stream is about a hundred and fifty yards wide, the banks cov- 
ered with trees, mangrove, and wild cane. We passed an ex- 
tensive garden of vegetables, raised, we supposed, for the city, 
and two or three plantations. The scenery increased in beauty 
as we got into the country ; and as we passed over the unrip- 
pled flood, the banks were beautifully reflected, and every ob- 
ject defined in the perfect mirror. An exclamation of delight 
burst from the whole party, as we saw a perpendicular bank 
with two white rocks just at the water's edge, the object and 
image seeming suspended over a convex sky. 

We debarked at the estate of the Marquis of Padramano, 
At this point in the river is a mill ; and the river in full view of 
the mansion falls romantically over a bed of rocks, in two sepa- 
rate sheets. The mansion is an ancient building, spacious rather 
than elegant. Attached to it on the west side, is a chapel of 
handsome appearance, the interior of which we had no oppor- 
tunity of examining. Over the arched entrance to the chapel 
hung two good sized bells ; and we were informed that mass 
is said in this chapel every Sunday. We passed through the 
court of the mansion under the conduct of a gentleman of our 
party acquainted with the Marquis, into beautiful gardens, the 
air at every step being filled with fragrance from innumerable 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. SI 

flowers. We entered over a bridge thrown across a stone basin 
of pure water brought into the gardens from the river by a ducts 
From this reservoir it is distributed [about the gardens for the 
purpose of irrigation. A considerable space of ground is occu- 
pied with walks, and trees, and shrubbery, and flowers, laid out 
with taste, and grown into their most perfect state, without as 
yet attaining the point of decay. The cypress sends up its 
slender and beautiful cone forty or fifty feet, its form and dark 
rich verdure attracting and delighting every eye. Bowers are 
covered with ornamental vines on three sides, and the graceful 
arch, and are open on the fourth side, to invite the visitant to its 
thick shade. The mayoral, in the absence of the noble propri- 
etor, w^ith true Spanish politeness attended us through the 
grounds, and took leave of us at the bridge. 

It was nightfall before we reached the city, and the smell of 
the mangrove growing in and out of the water, sometimes wet 
with the tide, and sometimes dry, was so offensive, that we dis- 
missed the boat, and walked into the town. It is thought that 
this nuisance at the most unfavorable season of the year, occa- 
sions a malignant fever. 

From a Spanish gendeman of respectability 1 have obtained 
some information of the windward coast for forty leagues, which 
he has traversed both by land and water. The face of the 
country is in general champaign ; and well wooded, with few 
estates regularly settled as coffee or sugar plantations. The 
Monteros occupy it in a patriarchal style, farming, and grazing, 
and logging, for their subsistence and wealth. They live chiefly 
on pork, and plantains, and water. The father of a small clan 
setdes on a few hundred acres, and as his sons and daughters 
marry, he portions them with parts of his land, and a few oxen 
and hogs, and families multiply around him. They have no 
priests among them, and are entirely ignorant of books. On 
the sabbath the families pass the day with the patriarch. They 
recite prayers, and children ask, and the parents bestow their 
11 



82 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

blessing. There is great simplicity among them ; an utter de- 
testation of theft, and thieves, and the kindest hospitality. In 
passing weeks witb these people, every door was open to him, 
and every kindness rendered ; and all compensation declined. 
Their costume is simple ; white frock and trousers ; a belted 
machet on one side, and a knife on the other* 



LETTER XXIL 

TO MRS E A — 



Matawzas, March 18th, 1828. 

Yesterday, by an arrangement of our Consul, a Quaker 
of Philadelphia, and a shrewd man, a large party was formed 
to visit a splendid cave on the estate of a Scotsman, Mr M^ 
The cognomen of the estate is the St Eloisa. The Consul 
placed me on his own noble horse, and took another himself,. 
" because," as he said, " he knew his own to be safe. The 
stranger which he rode, proved himself vicious, by throwing his 
light heels, when he was in full trot, at Mr C.'s quiet horse. 
Missing the horse, he hit the rider with one hoof, on his right 
knee, and the other on his left thigh. The effect, however, was 
little more than the impression of the hoofs on Mr C.'s snowy 
trousers, in a deep tinge of greasy, snuff colored soil. The 
mouth of the cave is in the midst of a plain, and there is nei- 
ther mountain nor hill near it. It had been prepared for exhi- 
bition, by spermaceti tapers set on natural candlesticks of petri- 
faction, as beacons on our return passage, and for illumination. 
Through an aperture of two yards diameter, we looked down 
into a vast rotunda, fiftyfive feet deep ; but entered at a small 
distance, by a sloping and circuitous passage, which brought us 
to a strong ladder, and by this we reached the bottom of the 
dome. Our next descent was over a convex slope, studded 
with short knobs of petrifaction, which secured |our foothold, 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. S3 

and at no great distance, we arrived at our greatest descent, 
about eightyfive or ninety feet from the surface. The immense 
cavern is of irregular form, height, and width. The roof is 
sometimes twenty or thirty feet high, and sometimes so low 
that we were obliged to cower, so as not to strike against the 
watery icicles. Bats, innumerable, we saw clinging to the 
higher parts of the cave, especially where a dome seemed to 
terminate in a lofty cupola. We came to a number of clear 
springs, and refreshed ourselves with the cool water, after 
guarding our stomachs by something warmer. The stalactites 
were dull and dusty near the mouth of the cave, where the air 
could dry its moisture, but farther in, and especially in little re- 
cesses from the main cavern, they were brilliant. Here a 
Northerner seemed to find his path encrusted with icy snow ; 
there a huge drift of snow lay piled against the wall, as if it 
would tempt a playful boy to bury himself in it. Sometimes 
the hanging stalactites had united with the erect, and in the 
course of, probably, many centuries, the union, by drop after 
drop, had become a massy pillar, sufficient to sustain the incum- 
bent roof. Again, we saw the pillar thus formed, broken, and 
lying in ruins, like fragments of an Egyptian temple. Several 
times we saw the pillar broken, and the lower part fallen a few 
inches from the upper, as if the bottom of the cave had sunk a 
litde, while the arch above, with its fixtures, remained firm. 
There was an indescribable variety of brilliant formations, 
which arrested the eye at every step ; and a slight effort of the 
imagination could make them curtains of elegant material, and 
graceful fold, fringes of fine linen, ornaments of alabaster, the 
mother with an infant clasped in her arms, a patriarch, and fami- 
lies standing round him for his blessing, and almost what you 
pleased. 

To what extent we might have pursued our researches, is 
uncertain, or in how many directions. One of the party, who 
has had experience in exploring caves, and has taste and sci- 
ence to relish them, on a former occasion had pursued a dif- 



84 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

ferent route, and penetrated as far as on the present occasion. 
We were at length arrested by fatigue, and with general con- 
sent, though some were still eager, and in advance, we beat the 
retreat, loading our porters with spoils for our respective friends, 
and public cabinets. We were inhumed two hours, and by the 
most moderate and deliberate judgment of the party, had tra- 
velled a mile in one continuous cavern. 

We returned, to a splendid dinner at Mr M.'s, and thence 
to Matanzas, at twilight. In this excursion of seven or eight 
miles, a few circumstances were amusing, and worth notice. 
Among all the varieties in caparisoning and riding horses and 
mules, in this country, nothing strikes me more oddly than the 
unsettled question, how a lady should sit on an animal. We 
met gentlemen and ladies mounted, and one lady with her feet 
on the right, and another, with hers on the left of her horse. 
As we passed in the highway, not far from the bay of Matanzas, 
we discovered land crabs, in considerable numbers, on their 
migration, it seems, to the beach. Some were dead, crushed 
by the careless foot of the horse, and others moved instinctively 
out of our way into the bushes, in a smart walk, on their long 
legs, and with their lobster-like claws, or nippers. Their bo- 
dies are not large, but, in motion, showy. Probably the dry- 
ness and general warmth of the winter has precipitated their 
movement, which commonly begins about the first of May. 

In our course to Mr V.'s, the brother-in-law of the Consul, 
we crossed a small river, over which a bridge had been thrown 
in arches. It was of stone, laid in mortar 5 but such was the 
force of the torrent descending from the mountains in the rainy 
season, that a part of the bridge was carried away, leaving the 
remainder useless. 1 was astonished to see young trees, one 
or two, 1 judged, eight or ten feet high, already growing out of 
the mortar, of that perpendicular part of the bridge, which is 
yet in perfect preservation. 

You may be surprised to hear that the last two nights have 
been litter cold — Yes, between the tropics, bitter cold ! The 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 85 

night before the last, I was aware of the change, and in addition 
to my blankets, I piled on my coat and surtoiit, expecting soon 
to throw them off; but I held them fast till morning. Last 
night was still colder, and 1 laid a friend's heavy camblet cloak 
on my bed, besides an extra blanket, and yet I actually dreamed 
of snow ; and snowy was the feeling of my skin through the 
night. I trust I have not taken any material cold, though there 
is something of that uncomfortable feeling in the throat, to 
which you have known me subject heretofore, causing a con- 
stant effort to swallow. This morning I feel well, and have 
breakfasted well, and at table found that I was not alone in feel- 
ing the chill of the night. The mercury was, this rnorning, 
not at zero, as from my complaint you may imagine, but at 58o. 
This would not be thought much of, at Bangor, or Hallowell, 
or even at Brunswick, or Beverly ; but I assure you it feels 
like zero here. I cannot account for the severity of cold, with 
mercury so little depressed. It is not the state of nty health 
or blood as an invalid ; for this morning we saw Creoles sunning 
themselves under easterly aspects, and catching from that bene- 
ficent luminary, warmth, which they have no fire-places nor 
stoves to impart, in their houses. 

This is fine weather for our journey to Havana, and I regret 
that Mr C. needs this day to pack off his specimens and letters 
to New- York. Tomorrow we hope to start. We understand 
it is a good road. I have seen a gentleman who came through 
in a volante, on Sunday, and arrived before evening ; we, on 
horseback, may easily perform the journey in three days, and 
have leisure to see the curious and the beautiful by the way. 
I have formed an acquaintance with Senor M., one of the In- 
tendant's Council, and perhaps the first merchant in Havana ; 
a gentleman of great information, of liberal views for a Catholic, 
yet excellently informed in all matters concerning the church, 
and of very ready communication. I have already derived 
valuable information from him ; and he has given me his ad- 
dress, and proffered to me an introduction lo the Vicar-General, 



86 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

not in the highest office, but the best informed ecclesiastic in 
Havana. From this gentleman and his partner, three days from 
that city, I learn that there is no sickness in the city, and now, 
little or none, in the harbor of Havana. I know how sensitive 
my family and friends are about that place, and what rumors 
they may hear, and what suspicions they may have of my pru- 
dence ; but, as I have stated in my last letters, so I state again, 
it is my intention to run into no danger, knowingly, and I have 
the means of being exactly informed. 

P. M. We are all alack again, as the sailors say at sea. 
This morning we selected our horses ; but have been able to 
find no guide for the journey, who understands any English. 
Now, a guide that can neither learn what we want of him, nor 
impart any information, or if we get into any sort of trouble, 
can help us, is but a blind man leading the blind. , In dining 
with some of our best friends today, our difficulties were stated, 
and Mr C. agrees, if we will wait a few days, and will go 
through in two, he will go with ns ; and even Mr and Mrs S. 
have some thoughts of going. This would render the journey 
every way safe and pleasant. It is probable, therefore, that we 
shall start at the beginning of the week. 

We have much occasion to regret our delay, as this week 
there is to be the greatest parade, ever witnessed in Havana. 
A new chapel has been built, and is to be dedicated. Its site 
is the spot where Columbus first performed mass, and the 
chapel is in rei memoriam perpetuam. Five thousand troops 
are to parade ; the aged, and popular, and venerable Bishop, is 
to appear in his pontificals ; an orator is to be eloquent on the 
historical subject, and very eloquent on the Queen, whose birth- 
day has been selected for the occasion. Litde, probably, will 
be said about Columbus, for whom everybody feels a deep in- 
terest, and much about the Queen, for whom nobody cares a 
half-bit. Doubtless the church will bring forth its host of 
saints, in their gayest attire, and whole canons and half canons, 
padres and monks, will bask in the radiance of this great occa- 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 87 

sion. It is possible, however, that the monks may be denied 
their expected place in the procession, for they are no favorites 
with the Bishop and Intendant. Two hundred of them recently 
arrived from Mexico, from which they have been expatriated. 
But the civil and ecclesiastical authority give them no welcome. 
I am credibly informed, that vessels, leaving port, for Old 
Spain, are required each to take a number of them. Some of 
them have contrived to bring away from Mexico, heavy funds, 
which looks like honor and honesty in the government. 

When the Cortes were in power in Old Spain, and the revo- 
lution was thought established, a decree was sent to this island, 
to confiscate an immense establishment of monks at the lee- 
ward, below Havana, possessing property to the amount of 
$3,000,000, (an amount probably over estimated.) The 
friends of the monks kept back the decree, for a ^ew days, and 
gave them information of the impending calamity. They made 
every exertion, dsy and niglit, to remove their valuables and 
great treasures from their churches. Even the sugars, from 
their estates, were in places of security, before the troops arriv- 
ed, who commenced a general sack. My respectable informant 
saw many articles of the plunder brought by ofScers and men, 
to Matanzas. I understand, that they were re-established with 
considerable loss, by the counter-revolution. 

It is evident that changes of some importance in the eccle- 
siastical state of things on this island, are taking place. The 
popular Bishop of Havana, it is said, was not very unfriendly to 
the constitutional government of 1812, if I mistake not the 
year. On the overthrow of the Cortes, and the recovery of 
the king's prerogative, the Bishop was recalled by the king ; 
but interest was made for his continuance, and through conde- 
scension to the people, or fear of their instability and power, 
he has been since continued in office. He has a revenue of 
f 100,000, and is said to expend it in beautifying the city. 
He exercises authority over the monks, with a degree of rigor, 
it is said, and pronounces them idle and vicious, and a disgrace 



88 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

to the church. But to the priests, who are laborers in the 
church, he is indulgent, and on one subject, it is rumored, he is 
innproperly so. If complaints are made against them, that 
they have females in their houses, and young families growing 
up under their fostering, he will not listen to such scandal, 
whatever evidence there may be, but dismisses the complainants 
with a reprimand. Indeed, it is become a common thing, that 
a padre will express his regret that the church has decreed the 
celibacy of the clergy, and his hope and belief that marriage 
will be permitted ; and this he will say, even to foreigners. 
But there is language more definite than this, in the pretty 
general practice of the priests, and the connivance of the 
Bishop. One of the most respectable and decent of them, has 
a nephew in America, for his education, over which he presides 
with a solicitude truly parental. Another, within a circle where 
my information cannot be erroneous, has a beautiful niece to 
keep and cheer his bachelor's hall. But, enough on this sub- 
ject, and surely, it is quite sufficient to set aside the ancient and 
traditionary argument for clerical celibacy, — that those who 
elevate the hoste, (so they pronounce it,) and impart the deified 
wafer to others, must themselves be as spotless as angels, who 
neither marry, nor are given in marriage. Herbert, one of 
the earliest of English poets, said — 

" How pure must those hands be. 
Which bring my God to me." 

Today is a half cross day — a saint's day — to be observed 
with special religious services, and many ringings of the bells ; 
and yet, business is not wholly laid aside, as on whole cross 
days. The two species of days are thus marked in the calen- 
dar, f J ; or thus, for a half cross day, + ; for a whole, -| — f-. 
This is St Joseph's day^ — the patron saint of the collector of 
the port ; so he refuses any goods to be landed on this day. I 
attended church a litde after sunrise. The mass was cele- 
brated, and St Jose exhibited in great splendor near the altar. 
He was gorgeously dressed, standing in front of a red velvet 



LETTERS FKOM CUBA. 89 

hanging, with, I suppose, an olive branch in one hand, and the 
holy infant resting on the other. St Jose has a devotional look, 
and leaning of his head, except that he has military mustachios. 
The collector, (I believe I was not mistaken in his person,) on 
this occasion, stood near the altar, three steps above the con- 
gregation ; indulged with this distinction, probably, on account 
of his relationship to the saint. 

Since I have been in Matanzas, I have ihrovm my thoughts 
on subjects around me, into letters for home, instead of into my 
journal. It is a livelier mode of waiting, and may gratify my 
family more than to see things gravely related, when I may ar- 
rive at home. I am not certain, that, on some subjects, my 
earliest impressions are correct. I am daily learning ; and 
sometimes, see cause to qualify a former observation. This 
caution may be needless. 



LETTER XXIII. 

TO MRS . 

Matakzas, March 19th, St. Jose's DAy, 1S28. 

■^ * * 1 HAVE concluded in this letter, to touch 
subjects not of much dignity, yet too characteristic of the 
country, to be passed over in silence. Occasionally, I have 
just touched the ox of the country 5 he really deserves particu- 
lar mention and respect. 

In this country, they are not large, compared with those of 
our own country, but powerful, and tame, and docile, as the 
Boston truck horses ; in fact, they are used in the city for the 
same purposes, as those excellent animals. You may some- 
times see a mule in a dray or cart, but usually the trucking of 
Matanzas is performed by Cuba oxen. 

Their harnessing strikes me oddly, but I really am convinced 
that they can draw more, and with much less inconvenience to 
12 



90 LETTERS FROM CUHA. 

themselves, than if harnessed in the American mode. I have 
taken pains to observe the difference. In the American mode, 
the oxbow in a strong draught, presses with great force, against 
parts that are tender and fleshy, against the passage for the 
breath, and against bones and joints of but secondary strength. 
This pressure must in some measure, affect the wind ; and if it 
do not excoriate, it must render flesh and skin tender ; and we 
actually observe the animals after resting awhile, shrinking 
from the touch of the bow, as a blistered breast from the touch 
of the nurse. If this is a correct statement, it will account for 
the greater indocility of the American oxen, and for, what I 
believe to be the honest fact, their drawing less than those of 
Cuba. 

The yoke, in the Spanish mode, is made fast to the horns 
near the root behind, so that it does not play backward and for- 
ward, and gives to the oxen, a similar, but better chance of 
backing, (as in teamster's phrase, it is called.) I have been as- 
tonished at the power of these oxen, in holding back. There 
is a short hill, in one of the streets of this city, at an angle, 
nearly of 45°. Standing at the foot of it, I saw a cart and oxen 
approaching at the top with three hogsheads of molasses, and 
the driver sitting on the forward cask. The driver did not so 
much as leave his perch ; the oxen went straight and fearless 
over the pitch of the hill, and it seemed as if they must be 
crushed to death. The animals squatted like a dog, and rath- 
er slid, than walked to the bottom of the hill. Have we any 
animals that could have done it ? And if they could, have 
we any docile enough to have done it with the driver in the 
cart ? Thus superior is this mode of yoking in holding back 
the load in difficult places. 

It gives them still more decisive advantage, in drawing. A 
fillet of canvas is laid on the front below the horns ; and over 
this fillet the cords pass, and the animal presses against the most 
invulnerable part of his frame ; his head, his neck, his whole 
frame are exerted in the very manner in which he exerts his 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 91 

mighty strength in combat. It is the natural way, therefore, 
of availing yourself of this powerful and patient animal to the 
•best advantage. 

There is a third peculiarity in managing the ox in the Span- 
ish mode, of the convenience of which, I am better satisfied, 
than of the humanity. The cartilage between the nostrils is 
perforated, and a rope is fastened to the nose of each animal, 
and they are governed by the reins, like horses, and are stop- 
ped, or turned to the right or left, or forced backward, with 
all imaginable ease ; I have seen no animal so fierce or sullen, 
as not to be pliable as a lamb, by this check rein, 'l he drivers 
seldom speak to them ; they intimate their pleasure by the 
rein, and quicken their pace by the goad, but never strike 
them. They, in general, move quick ;■ I have often seen them 
on the trot ; and next to horses, they seem the best disciplined 
animals I have seen in the service of man. If the force of 
habit and prejudice could so far give way in our country, as to 
make die experiment, 1 think Yankees, with all their shrewd- 
pess, might take a valuable lesson from Spaniards. 

In a team of four or six oxe.i, the forward pair, usually 
draws by a long cord, with space betv/een them and the rest 
of the team, for another pair. This appears uncouth, and or^ 
dinarily is, 1 should think, a disadvantage. The reason given 
for it, belongs to bad roads — that when the rest of the team is 
swamped, the forward catde may draw them out. They have 
litde to do with chains, but draw by a pole, fixed at each end 
with ropes, or thongs of leather. 

On the whole, looking back on what I have written to a lady, 
I cannot help smiling at the incongruity of the subject and ad- 
dress. Will it be any compensation if I proceed to another 
subject, over which you may both laugh and weep ? 

Mr C, our friend R. and myself, took a walk to a stable, to 
provide our horses for Havana. I had the quickest eye on this 
occasion, and fixed upon a little fat dumpling with two eyes; 
Mr C. was obliged to content himself with one eye less, made 



92 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

up, however, by more extent of bones. My judgment was 
sornewhat sharpened and quickened by the apprehension that 
nny very good friend would, on this occasion, as when we were 
competitors for a single curiosity, speak quick and say — ^' give 
me that.^^ as in the case of a wild negro's ingenious pouch, at 
Mr M.'s, while I was evidently paving the way, with some civil 
circumlocution to pocket it, he cut straight across, and, with 
three words, seized the pouch. As his adroitness raised a 
laugh, I thought it fair immediately to add, ^^and give me the 
contents.''^ After winning the better prize, however, I gave it 
up to him, a wax candle of the negro's manufacture excepted, 
whicli you will find in the box with specimens of shells. The 
money, however, according to a rule of the plantation was given 
to the captors, with the ordinary fee of $4. 

But to return. After leaving the stable, we saw, a few rods 
further on the street, a volante, orange boys, men and boys and 
bustle, as if some extraordinary business was in hand. It was 
the hour of cock fighting, and there was the pit or theatre. 
As this is a scandalous trait in the Spanish character, 
and observable in every town and village, and seems the pas- 
sion of this people, it was proposed we should look in. In 
every point of view but one, I could detest the thought of leav- 
ing a footprint on such ground ; but as a Christian philosopher, 
studying mankind, in the Spanish species, and this barbarous 
diversion reflects a baleful light on the subject, I consented. 
It is a round building sixty feet diameter, well covered, with 
circular seats and boxes rising from the area one above another, 
and, though not on the sabbath, the day when it is most fre- 
quented, the theatre was well filled. Twice as many persons, 
I think there were, as I had seen in the church when it was 
fullest. Elevated in a dignified pew or gallery, railed in by 
itself, and projecting a little toward the area, to give the most 
perfect viev/ of the combat, sat the Judge. This important 
officer of justice is regularly appointed by the Governor, or 
Alcaldij or otherwise, and from his decision there is no appeal. 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 9S 

The venerable judge was far advanced in years, to bold so im- 
portant an office ; from bis white locks, and wrinkled counte- 
iiance, and bending frame, I should think birn seventy — ten 
years older than Chancellor Kent, when he retired from the 
bench ; but to do his honor justice, he did not, like Philip of 
Macedon, nor like some of his brethren on republican benches, 
sleep while the cause was trying. However, there was an omis- 
sion of one thing ; be took no notes. Yet I acknowledge be 
followed the cause through all its windings, and ups and downs, 
and not an argument on either side was disregarded ; nor was 
there, so long as I observed him, for I did not see the cause 
through, the least sign of favor or partiality in his countenance, 
nor the slightest relaxation of his gravity. 

In glancing an eye round, I should think there were present 
a dozen or twenty cocks. Tamer birds, I never saw. They 
needed no contii*iement, but lay reclining on the hand of an 
owner or servant, and now and then crowing ii'om that perch. 
The shears or tweezers had cleared away all needless excres- 
cences — the comb, if they bad one, the feathers about the neck 
and some about the tail ; and the parts had been, probably for 
months, so rubbed and chafed with arguadente, a species of 
spirit, that they were of blood color. A pair was soon pro- 
duced, one of them by a planter of 2,000 boxes of sugar 
per annum; and I saw the doubloons, (ounces, they call them) 
chinking in their hands. The pit was cleared. Two men ap- 
proached each other with the cocks, and one bird was permitted 
to peck the other, to provoke him to combat, and then, the pro- 
vocation being returned with spirit, they were thrown down to 
deadly combat. We soon left the ground, but before we went 
both were covered with blood, and much spent, and one of 
them pierced in the breast, probably with a mortal wound by 
his adversary's dirk. I understand they were separated for a 
few moments, to inflame their wounds with alcohol ^ :;nd to 
give them spirit internally, when the combat would be-renewed 



94 LETTERS FKOM CUBA. 

to deatli or victory. We had no desire to see the end of the 
fray, and returned home with a thousand melancholy reflections. 
It is to me, matter of astonishment, that a check is not given 
to this barbarous diversion and open gambling by the govern- 
ment of a Christian country. But it is, in fact, encouraged 
by it. T will inquire, so as to be certain that I am not raisin- 
formed, but I believe the government regulates the sport, and 
appoints the judge of the pit; yes, the pit, rightly named, and 
a litde emblem of the bottomless. And I frankly acknowledge, 
if this gambling sport is tolerated, and the most selfish and 
savage passions are allowed to be roused, some presiding 
influence of government may be necessary, at times, to prevent 
deadly strife among the gamblers, as well as the cocks. You 
would suppose that sport and gambling of this kind, must be 
confined to negroes and the populace. No such thing. The 
Alcaldi of this city keeps ninety trained cocks for the combat, 
and men of immense fortunes, and some in their volanies, pro- 
bably, therefore, from the country on this important business, 
mingle in the pit, and on the seats and boxes with boys and 
negroes, in perfect liberty and equality. Bets from one to 
twelve ounces, (in English, from seventeen to two hundred 
dollars,) are made on the issue of a duel between two strutting 
coxcombs of the pit. As if the passion had infected every 
raan, the most unfortunate are seen at this diversion ; a deaf 
and dumb man was there, conversing eagerly by signs, and a 
most helpless being, a man of forty, whom I have often seen in 
the street in the arms of a negro, incapable of walking, was 
carried to the cock-pit. 

There is another favorite sport of the Spaniards, still more 
horrible, which nothing should tempt me to witness, — the bull- 
baiting. My friend and delightful companion, Mr C, while in 
Havana, so far subdued his fine feelings, to indulge his philoso- 
phical curiosity, as to attend on one occasion. As the animal 
passed into the arena, to enrage him to the utmost, (if I un- 
derstood Mr C.) darts, inflamed with brimstone, were fixed in 



LETTERS FKOM CUBA. 95 

his back. After suffering agony, for a little time, and witness- 
ing the imminent peril of human life, and the emboweling of a 
noble horse by the horn of the enraged animal, Mr C. retired 
from the scene, exhausted, and almost fainting. 

There has formerly been something of cock-fighting in our 
own country, and one or two attempts to introduce bull-baiting. 
Sincerely do I hope, that our national character will never be 
debased by the toleration of either. We have a free press, 
and some awe is felt for this noble instrument, operating on a 
reading people. Let its trustees watch over the mora/S and 
manners of the people, and when foreigners, or debased natives 
shall attempt to introduce barbarous sports, and open gambling, 
let them rouse the indignation of a moral and thinking people. 
And what the press may, at any time, be insufficient to put out 
of countenance, may the government suppress. 



LETTER XXrV. 

TO MISS A W I 



Matanzas, March 20th, 1828. 

* * * * As you have been for years geographically 
engaged, perhaps I may interest you with a few hints of this 
almost terra incognita. Its length and breadth you have ascer- 
tained, and its dimensions are sufficient to form a future Great 
Britain. The soil of the island is of three descriptions, black, 
red, and mulatto. The richest is the black, and best adapted 
to sugar ; the red is good soil, and better adapted to coffee ; 
the mulatto seems a mixture of both kinds, and answers for 
either species of culture. 1 have seen excellent cane growing 
on the red soil, ; but it was where it was deep. Near moun- 
tains, I have seen pretty extensive fields of savanna, a soil yield- 
ing sparingly of grass, bushes, and palmetto, and a slender, tall, 



96 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

and useless palm, peculiar to the savanna. It is stonej; con- 
tains much of flint rock, and stone combined with iron. So 
far as I can judge by what I have seen, and can hear, it is an 
island of. great vigor and fertility of soil, the barren bearing a 
very small proportion to that which is cultivated, or covered 
with a thick spontaneous growth. Mountains are found inter- 
spersed over the island, but not lofty; and there are some? 
pretty extensive plains. 

The principal defect of the island is the want of water. In 
the rainy season the water falls in a deluge, the brooks roar 
from the mountains, and the rivers are full. The fields are 
almost a sheet of water, and the roads are almost impassable. 
In other seasons showers are rare ; the channels of rivers are 
dry ; the fields are parched ; and man, and bird, and beast, are 
straitened for one of the first blessings of bountiful nature. 
With great expense they sink wells from forty to three hundred 
and sixty feet, a great part of the depth through stone, and 
draw up water by the power of oxen, mules, or horses. But 
the most common method of furnishing the quantity of water 
needed for an extensive plantation is by vast tanks, made of 
stone, and lined with mortar and Roman cement. The coffee 
driers furnish ready means of collecting water to the cisterns; 
and the immense roofs on sugar estates may answer the same 
purpose. 

My other letters have given you some account of the wild 
and cultivated growths of the island— and I shall not repeat my 
observadons. The population of the island bears no proportion 
to its physical capabilities ; yet it is supposed to have doubled 
in the last fifteen years. No recent census, however, has been 
taken. It is estimated to be about 800,000, of which the whites 
are supposed to be as four to five, or nearly 355,000 whites, 
and 444,000 blacks. The mass of white population is Spanish ; 
there are many French people, particularly in and about Ha- 
vana. The Americans are next in number among the foreign- 
ers, and some suppose them more numerous than the French. 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 97 

There are Scotch, Germans, Dutch, Italians ; but my opinion 
is too conjectural to be worth stating as to the proportion. 

It is of more importance to observe that the free blacks are 
considerably numerous ; the number has been stated to exceed 
100,000. It is a redeeming circumstance in regard to the 
Spanish character, that their laws favor emancipation, and the 
government faithfully executes them. If the slave can present 
his value, nay, only his cost, to his master, however reluctant 
he may be to part with perhaps the best body servant he has, 
or an invaluable mechanic, or skilful driver, he cannot retain 
him. If he attempt to evade the demand, the captain of the 
Partido must enforce it, and evasion in either case is punished 
with high pecuniary penalties. 

Nor is it so difficult a thing for a smart and saving negro to 
accomplish the means. Food is furnished to them so abun- 
dantly by their masters, that the fruits of their own garden may 
be converted into money. A certain method is to raise a hog, 
which they can do, to a large size, by corn of their own grow- 
ing. I have seen swine belonging to slaves, v/orth two or three 
ounces, (forty or fifty dollars,) and there are purchasers enough 
without their carrying them to market. Live hogs are at this 
moment sold here at eight dollars per hundred on the hoof. 
At any rate, negroes make money, and some save and bury it, 
and at an early period in life may buy their freedom. This 
very week, a splendid funeral was made for a black woman who 
paid for her freedom, and has left behind her $100,000, col- 
lected by her industry, and also an amiable and respectable 
character. From my chamber- window I look down upon a 
family of freed blacks, w^io are my laundresses. They sell 
admirable spruce beer, and I know not what else ; and the 
daughter amuses herself, and the family, and the neighborhood, 
by singing with a sweet and powerful voice of great compass, 
and accompanies her singing by the guitar. All this I rejoice 
to see and hear, and delight to record in honor of the Spanish 
government. And I would hide my face for shame, that in 
13 



98 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

some of our republican states, a statute forbids manumission, 
even when the owner is disposed to grant, or the slave is pre- 
pared to purchase the blessing. 

In another letter I may state something of the colonial gov- 
ernment of the island, of its ecclesiastical establishment, and its 
revenues, civil and ecclesiastical. But these topics may be too 
dry, except in small doses. ^ ^ ^ 

My time passes pleasantly at Matanzas. Several very re- 
spectable families contribute to my comfort. I dine, sup, call 
in an easy way, — and with some I walk— and with some I ride. 
My intercourse is not confined to countrymen— I gather infor- 
mation from all, and check and balance their accounts, and hope 
to get the truth. % «• 4t 

Some of the shops in Matanzas are quite brilliant — but I can- 
not shop for the want of a tongue; and the Catalans are com- 
plete Jews. 

By the way, there is a considerable number of Catalans and 

Biscayans on the island : and they have little of the character 

we have generally ascribed without distinction to the Spanish. 

They arrive in poverty, begin in a shop of six or eight feet 

square ; live on a biscuit,, and rise by patience, industry, and. 

economy, to wealth ; and unlike the Yankees, never fail. 
^ * * * 



LETTER XXV. 

TO MISS A W A- 



Matanza«, March 21st, 1828. 
If you are not tired of geography, I would say that I have 
obtained the loan of M. B. Huber's work, giving in fifty pages, 
a statistical view of Cuba, to the year 1825. It is a litde con- 
fused, and with some evident mistakes ; yet it is probably the 



>^ 



LETTERS from' CUBA. 99 

best authority extant, except perhaps Baron Humboldt's recent 
volume. But the Baron can give but the collection of others, 
as he spent but very little time on the island, and that, many 
years ago. This work gives the population in 1817, according 
to census, at 633,448 ; Whites 259,260, Free blacks and 
colored, 154,057; slaves, 225,131. You will be surprised 
to observe the number of free blacks and mulattoes. In this 
account the author is inconsistent with himself, making them in 
another place, only 58,885. But even this account, makes 
almost one tenth of the population freed blacks and colored, 
and more than a quarter of the blacks and colored on the island 
free. This is an important fact, and seems to indicate a mode 
in which slavery may be safely abolished. Make the earning 
of freedom easy and sure to the active and prudent. Men, 
then, in obtaining their liberty will form those habits which will 
render them good subjects, and capable of taking care of them- 
selves. Never, I hope, will this island throw difficulties and 
barriers in the way of a respectable slave, resolved honestly to 
work his way to freedom. I deeply lament that freedom is 
made impracticable in one, if not more, of the states in our 
union by a public law. Let not the despotism of Spain, more 
relenting and merciful than men rejoicing in freedom, and in 
the sacred creed tha*: all men are born free and equal, spread 
blushes over any part of our country. As my kind and excel- 
lent friend, and the fi'iend of my family, Mr D., takes pleasure 
in statistics, perhaps it may gratify him that you read parts of 
the letter of yesterday and today in his hearing. I add for you 
and him, that a very exact census of the island is now taking, 
which, when the public shall obtain it, will be a valuable docu- 
ment. The population of the island is supposed at this 
moment to have risen to from 800,000 to 1,000,000 of souls. 
This morning, according to an appointment with a respecta- 
ble merchant, I went to visit the public schools. As Spanish 
countries in our hemisphere have been in a deplorable state of 
mental neglect, the mention of this subject will excite your sur- 



100 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

prise. I learn that schools were first set up under the authori- 
ty of the Cortes, six years ago, those liberals being sensible 
that knowledge and freedom, or general information, and limit- 
ed monarchy, are yoke-fellows. We first entered a high 
school ; (as we say) kept by subscription. There was a re- 
spectable teacher who speaks good English, and is a Spaniard, 
instructing 20 boys, from twelve to eighteen years of age- 
Latin, English, and Spanish, are taught in this school. They 
stood respectfully while we were present. From this apart- 
ment we went into a free school, supported as I understand, by 
the city, and to which, the children of the poor have access. 
In this and a contiguous room there were 1 50 children, who 
rose as we entered ; and as I gazed down the double row of 
young Spaniards, preparing, I hope, to excel their fathers, my 
emotion was too great for utterance, and I stood speechless by 
the master. They learn reading, spelling, and arithmetic, and 
geography. Specimens of writing were shown to us, which 
would have done honor to any of our schools. They have 
paper prepared, I believe, by a stamp, not ruled with blue ink 
like ours, by means of which every stroke was accurate in 
leaning and length. As the schools keep fewer hours than 
ours, we thought it improper to take up their time 5 and with 
as benign a smile as my heart could imprint, and a wave of my 
hand, and with pleasure overflowing at my eyes, I gave them 
my parting salutation. How far my emotion may have been 
influenced by a thought of schools at home, at this moment 
visiting and reporting to the town, I know not. May the 
time soon come, when it shall be as strange a thing for a child 
in Cuba to be uneducated, as in the United States, or even 
in New England. 

A gentleman of fortune, a native of the United States, but 
married to a Spanish lady, invited me to a morning call on two 
literary ladies in the New town, a branch of this city. Their 
names, it seems, are not wholly unknown to American fame 
— Mrs B. and Mrs W. After a pleasant ride in a volante, the 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 101 

lining of which was curiously wrought with a needle, into grape- 
vines with leaf and fruit, and urns of flowers, the figures 
raised by stuffing, we were set down at Mrs B's. cottage. It 
was neatly white-washed, — a table in the middle of the room 
with implements for writing, and her son of twelve years at his 
task of Latin and English, of French and Spanish. A piano 
stood in one corner, which she called a necessary of life, in a 
retired situation. A white curtain half exposed, half concealed 
a bed-room, and another table ; and the poetess observed it was 
a pleasant retirement for writing. It was evident by the nicety 
of her dress and apartments, that the visit had been arranged 
between her and my guide. She is a florid, good looking 
woman. * * * 

At the next cottage hard by, my friend exclaimed at the 
outer door, " How is Mrs W. today ?" A voice from an inner 
apartment cried, " She will show herself," and immediately 
from behind the curtain the learned authoress, and elegant 
painter of flowers emerged. This lady is chiefly famous for a 
manuscript which she intended to have printed 5 but the selfish, 
calculating printers would not undertake it upon their own hook, 
nor upon hers without |6,000, which she had not to give. 
The said manuscript has been to America and back again to 
Cuba with the fair author. It is said to contain paintings of 
flowers, native and exotic of this island, with an interspersion 
of descriptions and scraps of poetry. I suppose it is a dish 
which the Spaniards might call an olio,- — a little of almost every- 
thing. 

We returned to my friend's fine establishment ; after which 
I called upon Mr and Mrs B. from Boston. * * * 

This afternoon I have been perfectly delighted by the arrival 
of Mr G., my friend from Havana. He is immediately to re- 
turn with me to Havana, with a delightful party, worth all my 
delay. The city and shipping of Havana are in perfect health. 
A long north wind has agitated the pool, and all danger is put 
to flight. Soon after our arrival at Havana, we are to go down 



lOS LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

to the Leeward. * * * It is the most populous, the 
wealthiest, and handsomest part of the island, through which I 
am to pass, and in which I shall stay a few weeks. I hope^not 
to forget the main object of my journey, the establishment of 
my health. In the uncertainties before me, I humbly commit 
myself to the divine keeping. • The more I see of this curious 
and strange country, the more I am attached to my own. 



LETTER XXVI. 

TO MRS E A^ 



Matanzas, March 22d, 1828. 

Are you tired of my minute account of Catholic ceremonies ? 
If not, I have a litde that is new, for they are continually vary- 
ing the scene, that familiarity may not prevent effect. 

Last evenino; I took the arm of one of mv attentive American 
friends, (an amiable and respectable man, in excellent business, 
and connected with an important house in Havana,) and took 
an airing. We passed by. accident towards the church, when 
the vfhole chime of bells struck. up,- in the most noisy and con- 
fused play and rapid .strokes, as if resolved to be attended to. 
Coming in sight of the church, we perceived it was lighted, and 
that more than the usual number were collecting. We joined 
the rest and walked far down the area, so as to have a perfect 
view of what was passing. Many were on their knees before 
an exhibition of the crucifixion. The same figures as described 
in a former letter, were presented in a very different manner — 
Jesus, the Virgin, and two other women, one of them, kneeling. 
They were on a stage in front of the side altar ; the crucified 
was under a red velvet canopy ; and the women, standing and 
kneeling, with fourteen large tapers burning before them, so 
arranged as to rise row above row, and reflect a strong light 
upon the awful scene. Ten or twelve feet in advance of these 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 103 

were "two very large tapers, fixed in candlesticks, twelve or 
fifteen feet high. These candlesticks were fixed in mahogany 
blocks on the floor. A few minutes before the entrance of the 
priests, two attendants in white frocks with a hasty step came 
in, and each took one of these lofty candlesticks with the taper 
burning, and stood by the door at which the priest was to enter ; 
and as he entered, they moved with him to the scene of the 
crucifixion, and replaced them on their stand. The priest was 
dressed in a gorgeous mantle over his shoulders like a shawl, 
difierent from anything I had seen. He burned incense before • 
the crucified, and threw upwards its fumes ; and commenced 
a chant which was continued from the gallery with a few pretty 
good voices, and several admirable instruments exquisitely 
played. The chants were long, in the minor key throughout, 
and with the most touching tones. While they were chanting, 
the priest took a taper in his hand, and kneeled with his attend- 
ants, and looked with a fixed gaze at the crucifixion for, I 
should think, ten or twelve minutes. His head was immove- 
able, and his eyes elevated and fixed on the crucified as if his 
last words, "It is finished," were still in his astonished ears. 
After the beholding was over, he read prayers with responses 
from the people, the purport of which was a supplication for the 
forgiveness of sins, " through the blood of the everlasting cove- 
nant,'^'' The priest and the people performed this service with 
a quick correspondence ; the response was pretty general and 
rapid, as if their part was familiar, and most had no book. 

Thus I have given you the principal circumstances of this 
(shall I not say) theatrical representation of the crucifixion. 
As an exhibition I deny not that it was striking and affecting. 
But does it not seem something profane to act over the awful 
scenes of Calvary — to act over the dreadful tragedy, from which 
the sun veiled his beams; at which nature was in affright and 
disaster, rocks rending, the earth quaking, and the sacred veil 
of the temple parting asunder? And what is the warrant in 
scripture for this theatrical display ? Certainly not in the sim- 



104 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

pie command — " This do in remembrance of me," — and I know 
not what can justify it. Possibly it may be said, that the justi- 
fication is to be found in the good tendencies of the thing ; — 
that hearts so cold as ours need affecting exhibitions, to move 
them. We are too cold j but 1 fear this is like the unhallowed 
fire of Nadab and Abihu, of man's kindling, and acting on the 
senses only, and not with that reflecting, gentle, holy influence, 
which touches and sanctifies the heart. 

As I observed in a former letter, I am preparing to set out 
for H. after dinner, so that I shall leave yon a rare sight, a few 
blank inches in this sheet. We know not what a day may bring 
forth — nor what sudden event of Providence may overcast or 
even terminate life. But we are in God's hands, and there I 
love to be. As yet, everything, I ought thankfully to acknow- 
ledge, seems conspiring to render my intended journey pleasant. 
Besides servants there are to be six American gentlemen of 
the party. Half of them have had public educations, and the 
rest are well informed and interesting companions- I, starting 
today, shall be three days on the road, which is a prudent divis- 
ion of the fatigue. It is a fine country through which we pass 
— and Havana is in an interesting attitude for a Protestant 
stranger, immediately after the greatest parade the city has ever 
seen, and before Easter. 

Every day here my valuable circle of acquaintance spreads. 
An English gentlemen of high standing procured an introduction 
to me this morning ; expressed his regret that I was leaving the 
town, and his hope to see more of me at my return. * * 

Give my kindest love to my colleague ; and entreat him to 
be kind to my people for my sake. 1 hope my third pastoral 
letter has been received and communicated ; — that all things 
go on well in the parish ; — that love and comfort reign in the 
parlor and kitchen ; — and that you all long to see me as much 
as I want to see you. 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 105 

LETTER XXVII. 

TO MRS E A- . 



Haruco, March, 1828. 

In company with Mr H. and Mr F. and a Spanish guide 
familiar with the way, we set out at four o'clock for St Cyrilo, 
the coffee estate of Mrs J., on our way to Havana. We trav- 
elled in sight of the St Juan two or three leagues; glanced -an 
eye into the gardens of the Marquis of Padramano, as we passed 
in the rear of them, had a fine view of the Pan of Biatanzas, of 
its bold spires, and of the notch in the mountains, occupied by 
the estate of Mr Lovio, and arrived in the little village of La- 
mocha, and stopped at a fine hotel. This village contains about 
thirty houses, and a pretty church, furnished with a priest, who 
serves a district of 2000 souls. A respectable looking man at 
the hotel informed us that there were prayers in the church 
every day, attended by four or five' persons, and on the sabbath 
by a considerable collection from the district ; and that they 
had two sermons in the year on Saints' Days, probably meaning 
at Christmas and Easter, and none but vocal music, unless they 
obtained it from Matanzas. 

We passed on in the cool of the evening to St Cyrilo; the 
latter part of the way we had only a moonlight view of the 
country. And the whole distance from Matanzas was occupied 
as pasturage and farming land, with but here and there a planta- 
tion. The view of the mountains of San Juan was pretty, and 
the play of the waters of the latter, where the road passed on 
its margin, was beautiful, over a small fail of convex stone. 

The entrance into the St Cyrilo estate is very tasteful. A 
broad and lofty gate, highly ornamented, was thrown open to 
us by the porter from the lodge, and we approached the man- 
sion through an avenue of bamboo, forming a Gothic arch ; 
continued by orange-trees, and the whole set with rose-trees in 
full bearing, and extending nearly a mile. We passed through 
14 



106 vLETTERS FROM CUBA. 

a very extensive siccaderos enclosed with a white picket fence, 
and a tank of water covered with palra, and were hospitably 
received at the mansion by the nephew and niece of the pro- 
prietor ; and had nothing to regret but the absence of onr ac- 
complished friend, and that it was not in our power to look 
round more leisurely by daylight upon this fine estate. 

Mr L. called us before daybreak to partake of a repast to 
suffice us till the more regular meal we were to take at Haruco, 
six or seven leagues on our way ; and we started on our jour- 
ney. From St Cyrilo to Haruco is a champaign country, with 
a distant view of hills. It has the appearance of having been 
formerly cultivated in plantations, but it is now chiefly in pas- 
turage. Aquacarte is a small village, with a church in bad 
condition, and two bells, hung on a pole near the ground. A 
Spaniard in the neighborhood, who entered into free conversa- 
tion with one of our party, spoke slightingly of the priest, of 
attending church, of confession, and of fees. I could not refrain 
from remarking to him, that I was afraid he was more attached 
to his money than to religion. He said, perhaps he was more 
attached to it than to religion, as it is in this country— but he 
understood that it was a different thing in the United States, 
where men judged for themselves what was right, and worship- 
ped as they saw fit. I recommended to him to attend to reli- 
gion as a serious and important matter ; and under the form 
adopted by his country, till he should be better informed. 

We arrived at Haruco to a late breakfast. It is a town situ- 
ated on a rocky swell of land, containing several streets of 
houses, in general of mean appearance, a respectable church, 
a priest, and 3,400 inhabitants. At the entrance we saw a 
cockpit filled with people, and three or four taverns near by, 
too full of men and horses to admit of our hoping for accom- 
modation if we stopped. Our guide led us from tavern to 
tavern without success, till we passed over the hill beyond the 
town, and stopped at a house near the little river. We saw 
people gathering to the town from different directions, and by 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 107 

the lateness of the hour we judged for amusement, and not for 
church, for the cockfight, and not for prayers. 

While breakfast was preparing, I endeavored to obtain rest 
and sleep. But my couch was fixed in an apartment devoted 
to so many objects, that I did not succeed. The cook was 
employed in my sight in the whole process of killing, scalding, 
picking, singeing, and cleaning the fowls, and performing in the 
same simple vessels whatever was further necessary to give 
us a fricassee with eggs and small chips of bacon fried together. 
Hens were clucking to their chickens round my bed, and two 
small dogs worrying the chickens, and fiercely pursued by the 
hens in turn. Horses were led through parlor and kitchen, and 
little preference of accommodation was allowed to men above 
the beasts. There was a narrow sideroom to which I hoped 
to find access ; but that was occupied by the ladies of the fam- 
ily, and therefore denied to strangers. 

During the slow preparations for breakfast, inquiries were 
made about the town, and readily answered, and it was evident, 
that the same prejudices prevailed here in regard to the priest, 
attending church, and confession, as had been expressed in 
other villages. 



LETTER XXVIir. 

TO MRS E A- 



GuANAMACOA, March, 1828. 
* * * After settling a heavy bill at an indifferent 
tavern, the best we could find, with a guide to direct us, among 
seventeen maintained in this small place, we started on our way. 
It is truly melancholy to remark that in every village is found a 
commodious building devoted to the barbarous sport of cock- 
fighting ; that these animals are often seen before their doors in 
such a trim as indicates their destination, stripped of a part of 



iOS LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

their feathers, and so chafed with spirit about the neck and tail, 
as to give those parts the blood colored appearance of the nat- 
ural comb of the bird. Two days of the week are considered 
holidays for this amusement, Sunday, and Monday ; but the 
principal devotion to it is shown on Sunday, Monday being 
called but half-holiday. 

On leaving Haruco we enter on a most enchanting coun- 
try, — the country of palm trees and sugar cane, of hills and val- 
leys, and beautiful mountains. The Escalara ridge of moun- 
tains borders the view southward, and occasionally we see the 
ocean to the northward. Water is not in this tract of country 
so rarely to be seen on the surface. The small streams are 
arrested and form lagunas, by dar^is of stone laid in mortar^ 
and plastered. Innumerable small hills run up their cones, 
some between two and three hundred feet high, and generally 
are cultivated to their tops. The gorges between them are 
commonly filled with plantain ; and the whole scene seems 
variegated like a lively painted chequer-board. The most re- 
markable sugar estates that we passed, were those of the Mar- 
quis of Cardenas, and Don Perez Uria. Under the broad 
mill shed of the latter, we took shelter from the intense sun, 
and drank water from his cool cistern. 

We gathered from his intelligent manager, that the grinding 
is now entirely performed by steam ; that an engine of twelve- 
horse power performed the work, which formerly with great 
fatigue had been accomplished by two mills, with ten oxen to 
carry each of them. That the engine, delivered in Havana, 
had -cost $8,000, and had been in successful operation four 
years 5 that an engineer had been employed to four estates, 
which reduced the expense ; that the bagassa, (cane which has 
been through the mill,) is sufficient to carry the engine, and to 
boil the juice to sugar, and that no wood whatever is consumed 
in the operation ; that the shed, which now covers the engine, 
was put up to make the experiment, and the mills continued in 
possession of the main building 5 that by employing steam in- 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 109 

Stead of oxen, two hundred feet of this vast building would be 
rendered needless; that the experiment by the steam engine had 
been so perfectly satisfactory, that the mills had stood four 
years in the condition, in which we saw them without use ; that 
the proprietor of this estate, also owned another, where an en- 
gine was difierently constructed, and required wood to complete 
the operation of grinding and boiling; that eleven hundred 
boxes of sugar were made in a year, on this estate. 

So far as a simple statement of facts goes, and this, doubtless, 
is the best evidence in the world, it appears evident, that the 
introduction of steam engines into sugar estates, would be an 
immense saving of expense to the proprietor ; and by the hori- 
zontal posture of the nuts in grinding, and the use of a hopper 
to feed them, the accidents are effectually prevented, which oc- 
cur so frequently in mills constructed upon the old principle. 
And last, not least, the more expeditious grinding, by steam, 
very much abates the exhausting fatigue of the grinding season, 
and takes away the necessity of grinding in the night ; which 
would prove a great saving of life and limb, and be as great a 
benefit to the master, as a mercy to the slaves. 

The afternoon being hot, w^e stopped again at a public house, 
in which I at once observed greater neatness and order than I 
had usually seen in the taverns of this country. Occasionally, 
a female was seen through the small door opening into the back 
apartment, but none entered the public room. As I was 
mounting my horse, it was remarked to me that the innholder 
had twelve children, and that they were all together in the back 
apartment. I requested to be introduced to his family; he 
very readily assented and led the way. It was a delightful and 
affecting sight. A mother with an infant in her arms, was sur- 
rounded by eleven well dressed children, appearing like a reg- 
ular flight of steps, silent, and in order, while one of the elder 
girls was reading aloud to the rest. " These " said the father, 
"these, Senor, are my children," while there v;as evidently 
in his eyes emotion; in which pride and affection seemed to 



110 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

bear a pretty equal part. I inquired, " how many of them 
could read f " " All, all," was the reply, doubtless not expect- 
ing that 1 should apply the words to those, who were too young 
to have learned. Seeing so extraordinary an instance of do- 
mestic instruction and good management, 1 asked further if 
they were baptized ? He replied with emphasis, "Yes, and 
each on the eighth day after birth." " Sir," said I, " you are a 
happy father, and may God make these children a blessing to 
you," and in passing out I gave them my benediction in the 
style of the country — a Dios ; and I cannot tell the pleasure I 
felt in hearing them all murmur after me in the customary 
words, by which they meant to express their hearty good 
wishes, — " Go, Sir, in a good hour." The father who had 
been informed that 1 was a Protestant clergyman, attended me 
out quite to my horse, and I left him, thinking his feelings truly 
enviable. 

We had not gone far, before we saw a considerable number of 
persons returning from church, where a baptism had been ad- 
ministered. Some were on horses, and some on foot. On one 
horse I saw a woman mounted, with an infant on her lap, and a 
man, no doubt her husband, riding behind, with one arm affec- 
tionately thrown round her, to preserve her steady in the saddle, 
and guiding the horse with the other hand. The volante passed, 
and in it was the infant, which had been baptized, with the mo- 
ther or nurse. Soon after came by one of the most efficient 
members of the police, Domingo Armona, with a part of his 
band, all mounted, with carbines slung to their backs. They 
moved rapidly by, so that we had only time to observe the mus- 
cular form and fierce visage of the leader, and the corresponding 
looks of the band. We had halted by a tavern, and as a half 
dozen persons were apprizing us, who was approaching, we 
could perceive the awe or terror with which they spoke of him. 
His services have inspired a salutary awe of the government. 
The moment disturbance begins, or alarm is felt, this efficient 
man is sent for, and with the flight of an eagle, is on the spot.. 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. Ill 

We arrived at Guanamacoa in the dusk of evening, and two 
of our friends being anxious to be on change early in the morn- 
ing, passed on to Havana, and Mr C. and myself, wishing to 
see more of this considerable town, and to approach the me- 
tropolis by daylight, spent the night in this populous village. 

Guanamacoa contains a population of 10,000 souls, a re- 
spectable church, narrow streets, handsome houses, and many 
thatched cottages of mean appearance. It is a place of con- 
siderable business, and may almost be considered as a suburb 
to Havana. The views from this town to Regla, are fine, and 
the face of the country cultivated as the garden of the city. A 
vast city stretches itself out before us ; the chalky stone, of 
which the walls and houses are constructed, gives to the city a 
resplendent appearance, dazzling to the eye, and not relieved 
by the verdure of trees or gardens. We looked down upon 
Regla, which may be called the eastern suburb of Havana, and 
a populous town by itself, separated from the city by the beau- 
tiful bay, the favorite resort of the seamen of the harbor. 
Most of the lumber, which enters the bay of Havana, is 
landed at Regla, and all the molasses, that is received by land 
carriages, or drogers, is deposited here. That which comes 
by land, is emptied into large tanks. It was a matter of noto- 
riety, that many of the pirates, who infested the neighboring 
coast, three or four years since, had a home in Regla. This 
town is adorned by a handsome church, and some fine houses, 
but its general appearance answers to its moral character, as the 
resort of the imprudent and idle. 



LETTER XXIX. 

TO MRS E A 



Havan^a, March 2oth, 1S28. 
In descending from GuanaHiacoa, we had a fine view of the 
high hills on the north of the city and bay, supposed to be im- 



X12 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

pregnably fortified. On that side of the bay, and below the 
barracks, is a little populous town, called Casa Blanca. The 
hill for a great extent is fortified, and at the western end a con- 
nexion is formed with the Moro, by a subterranean passage, 
that in the event of an attack, the strength of the hill might be 
imparted to the Moro, and of the Moro to the hill, as circum- 
stances might require. The Moro terminates the interesting 
view of the high hills north of the city, as seen from the high 
ground between Guanamacoa, and Regla. We can only see, 
at such a distance, that it is a castle, with a handsome tower. 

Nothing can exceed the beauty of the bay of Havana. It 
appeared like an inland lake, its connexion with the ocean being 
concealed from our view, as we approached it. It is capacious, 
circling round half the city, with good depth of water at its 
narrow entrance, and seventyfours navigate it fearlessly. A 
vast number of large ships lay along its extensive wharf on the 
city side, with their bows to the wharf, and their long bowsprits 
pointing to the city. Every imaginable species of water-craft 
was plying, or lying at anchor, at the skirts and in the centre of 
this magnificent harbor. We were fortunate in the day, the 
birthday of the king, as the vessels of war were dressed in their 
gayest attire. A seventyfour at anchor in a central part of the 
bay, looked magnificently ; and we had the pleasure to see, 
among the flags of all nations, a conspicuous place assigned to 
the stars and strides. The flags were so arranged as to delight, 
not more by their gorgeous colors, than by the tasteful and 
symmetrical arrangement of them. 

Between Regla and the city, large boats are constantly ply- 
ing, so that one is arriving as another is departing. Our bag- 
gage was transferred to one of them, and we embarked for 
Havana. We passed under the stern of an United States' ship 
of war, we understand the Erie, and wondered that in a friendly 
port she was not dressed in compliment to the king. We per- 
ceived, however, that the occasion was noticed throughout the 
bay, by Spanish vessels of war only. 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 113 

We were soon in the city, and a black man in livery seized 
an article of our baggage, as a pledge that we would take his 
volante to convey us to lodgings ; and through very narrow 
streets, everywhere crowded by foot-passengers and vehicles, 
with many stops to disentangle, and patient waiting now and then 
till the choked stream gave way, we arrived at the Hotel de 
Madrid. In the centre of this city, — a vast mass of stone and 
mortar, encircled by a high wall, and the wall protected by a 
broad ditch of a hundred feet in width, which can be filled with 
water at pleasure for the safeguard of the city, — it is impossible 
that a reflecting stranger should not be filled with deep interest. 
Every circumstance around him proclaims the importance of 
Havana. The turret and portholes of the excavated rock of 
the Moro, frowning over the narrow entrance of the harbor ; 
the strong battery answering to it on the opposite point ; the long 
range of cannon and barracks on the city side ; the powerful 
fortifications that crest the opposite hill ; all speak one language 
to the eye of the stranger, that Havana is the heart of Cuba, 
and must never be given up. It is evident, he perceives, that 
the city is worth all this care to preserve it. The bay, populous 
with vessels from the whole commercial w^orld ; the city a depot 
of mercantile and agricultural opulence ; the immense extent 
of public buildings ; the cathedral, churches, and convents ; the 
Governor's palace, post office, and other public buildings, with 
the palaces of nobles and opulent gentlemen, some of which 
buildings cover squares ; in short, a spot wholly occupied with 
buildings, except a very scanty portion devoted to lanes, for as 
to streets we can hardly allow that they have any, proclaim 
Havana within the walls, one of the richest and most important 
spots, for the number of its roods, on the face of the earth. 
And yet Havana within the walls, is less populous than Havana 
without. 

Yet what is Havana now, to Havana in the distant prospect } 
The country makes the town. The population of the island is 
rapidly increasing. Every facility is given to the introduction 
15 



114 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

of foreigQ capital, and of foreign planters and merchants. The 
laws in this respect are highly liberal, and the practice of the 
government still more so. He who cannot buy, may take up 
land on trust ; and while reducing the forest to a fruitful field, 
he is not even charged with the rent. When he can pay rent, 
it is exacted ; and when he can buy the land, a fee simple is 
given him, and even creditors are not allowed to cramp his op- 
erations, or to eject him from his possessions by any sudden or 
distressing movement. What may not be expected as to the 
future magnificence of this city, when a soil so fertile, shall be 
more generally settled, and the rich productions of the surround- 
ing country, shall pour a full tide into its bay and warehouses ? 
Havana and its sister cities, and the island, are commencing a 
glorious career. If they continue their connexion with the 
parent country, in most respects it is a beneficent one. Their 
taxes to church and state are not oppressive ; and protection is 
generally extended to persons and property. / Assassinations are 
somewhat frequent in the city, and are a reproach to the gov- 
ernment ; but this is imputable in a great degree to an unfortu- 
nate law, which subjects to arrest and confinement every person 
who is a mere witness to a murder. The consequence is, that 
when an assassination is attempted, every witness flies from the 
spot, instead of coming to the relief of the assailed, or to the 
conviction of the murderer. It is devoutly to be hoped, that a 
law so fatal to the unfortunate, and so favorable to the flagitious, 
will be repealed. 

Either the laws, or the administration, is often unfavorable in 
matters of property ; and the deepest purse is said often to de- 
termine the suit, if not the merits of the case. A case in the 
high court of Principe is a case in chancery, where delays and 
embarrassments are likely to be multiplied, so long as the liti- 
gants have fuel to spend on the flame. But in this country 
prudent men keep out of the law, and seldom lose property to 
any serious amount. 

The time will probably come, when the island will become 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 115 

independent, or attached to a government of greater energy. 
There appears no desh-e, for the present, of any change so se- 
rious. Native Spaniards do not desire it ; foreigners desire it 
as Me. Any change would be likely to bring heavier taxes at 
least, and probably greater impediments to commerce. 

But if they should become independent, such is the extent 
and fertility of the soil, so rich are the productions of the island, 
so much greater is the attention to education than formerly, and 
so many the schools setting up, by public and private patronage, 
that they will have wealth, and knowledge, and population, suf- 
ficient to render themselves respectable in the family of nations. 



LETTER XXX. 

TO MRS E A . 

March, 182S. 
While in the city, and under the conduct of highly intelligent 
friends, I took a hasty view of the most considerable objects, 
which attract the traveller. The most interesting spot in the 
city is the governor's square ; or the square fronting his palace. 
It is an ornamental garden, neatly divided into small compart- 
ments by footwalks, and freely traversed in every direction by 
all that list; soldiers, however, watch that no violence is done 
to the plants. On the south side of the square stands the im- 
mense palace of the Captain General, a little city by itself. On 
the north side stands a beautiful arch of marble, serving as a 
gateway to lead to the barracks. A little farther east is the 
litde elegant chapel recently dedicated by the Bishop to the 
memory of the first mass said on the island by Columbus. It 
has a front inclosure, and a beautiful gateway, the effect of 
which is injured by the more towering arch leading to the bar- 
racks. The beauty of the snow-white structure and fence is 
not improved by a pale green gate, and urns on the posts, sur- 



116 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

mounted by pine apples painted a dark green. On a pillar in 
the inclosure in front of the church is a small statue, I know not 
to the memory of whom, and an inscription on the architrave of 
the church. 

On this spot was recently standing the tree, (it is confidently 
said,) under which the Discoverer of the country said mass. 
It has been cut down to receive the chapel, and its wood dis- 
tributed in precious relics. On the remaining side of the Gov- 
ernor's square is the Consulado of Commerce, an inconsiderable 
building, and private shops and houses. 

It being a high holiday, I accepted an invitation to a ride in 
a volante on the Passao. No hired carriage is admitted to pass 
round in this gay and fashionable course; and the walk from 
the city would have been fatiguing. The Passao is about a 
mile in length, broad enough for carriages to pass each other at 
a safe distance, yet so near as for friends to give each other the 
passing salute, which is done by the ladies with a shake of the 
fan, and by the gentlemen with a wave of the hand. There 
are sidewalks and seats all along for persons on foot, and the 
whole course is set out with a great variety of beautiful trees. 
Five bands of music were stationed at favorable points in the 
course, and playing exquisitely on a great variety of instruments. 
At the upper end of the course was a small inclosure, and a 
handsome statue, I think of Charles the Third of Spain. Here 
the most powerful band of music was stationed, and as the vo- 
lantes passed round, the horses were frightened or inspirited 
almost beyond the power of the drivers to keep them in order. 
It was a lively and splendid exhibition, and an interesting ride. 
Mounted soldiers were stationed along the course, to preserve 
order, and to terminate disputes if any should arise. Each 
carriage kept its place ; and marquis and count, gentleman and 
plebeian, if rich enough to keep his volante, figured in the ani- 
mated and brilliant course. The curtain of the volante was let 
down, often exhibiting a single gentleman, oftener a gentleman 
and lady, and sometimes three persons, the whole passing round 



LETTERS I^ROM CUfiA. 117 

and round, seeing and seen, and listening to the music, and ex- 
changing salutations with one another and with friends on the 
sidewalks, till each carriage filed off at pleasure, and returned 
into the city through a different gate from that, by which they 
entered on the course. 

The Captain General has appropriated a small portion of 
land, lying contiguous to the ancient barracks of the city, to be 
cultivated as his private garden. It was originally open to the 
visits of the people ; but in consequence of some abuse of the 
privilege, the entrance has been shut against them, and guarded 
by a soldier. A privileged person proffered to conduct me ta 
this secluded garden. 

It is a pretty spot, adorned with flowers and shrubs, some 
culinary vegetables, a few fine busts and statues, a jet of water, 
a duck-pond twenty feet square, with a boat in it, and to com- 
plete this short hand description, a cockpit, for the Governor's 
private diversion and relief amidst the oppressive cares of state. 
Two or three persons were engaged in the pit, in the act of 
training a fierce chanticleer, whose spurs were masked, that he 
might not injure his adversary, who was held fast by the trainer, 
and darted at him or withdrawn from him, running round the 
pit, in such a manner as might in the highest degree provoke 
and animate the trained cadet. Thus we see, that this favorite 
sport of the island finds a cool retreat in the Governor's private 
garden, and the patronage of his excellency in hours of leisure 
from public business. 

The pleasures of this morning walk were increased by a visit 
to the palace of Count Fernandino. It is an extensive building, 
the seat of his ancestors, which is undergoing a series of changes 
and repairs, in accomplishing which, the proprietor has already 
expended $100,000. The halls are spacious and elegant, and 
a distinct suite is appropriated to his mother, to his countess, 
and himself. From the gallery of this superb mansion, you 
may look down into the stable on the horses feeding. It seems 
crowding things unlike, too closely together ; but in this crowded 
city the inconvenience is not easily avoided. * * * 



118 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

LETTER XXXI. 

TO MRS E A 



HavanAj March, 1828. 
In company with a distinguished Spaniard, to whom I am 
indebted for much information and civility, at nine o'clock, we 
attended in the cathedral church, and witnessed high mass per- 
formed in great splendor. The exterior of this vast building 
is not in perfect taste, and the Bishop, the liberal improver of 
everything around him, has commenced a change to something 
more simple and grand. He has already transformed and 
beautified the interior. The view was imposing and awful in a 
high degree. The lofty arching over head, the depth and 
spread of the central avenue to the principal altar, at this time 
veiled in black, the side avenues, only inferior to the central, 
and the tasteful painting of the whole, with the fine figures in 
the dome, representing Moses, the Prophets, and Evangelists, 
excite a strong emotion. The exquisite paintings here and 
there displayed with striking effect — a family scene, in which 
Abraham and Sarah were the principal figures, while an angel 
announced, "And Sarah shall have a son" — with the still more 
beautiful painting, on the opposite side, of Christ conversing 
with the woman of Samaria, while the apostles, at a distance, 
are seen looking on with wonder, — add to the interest. In 
front of the altar, and within the railing, is a beautiful flooring 
of mosaic, of various colored marble in curious checks, resem- 
bling a superb Turkey carpet. There are a number of side 
altars, but simplicity is the general character of the whole. On 
the left of the altar is a bust of Christopher Columbus, let into 
the wall, and his bones are preserved in a silver urn standing 
near the spot. Many figures in basso relievo, which my friend 
supposed to be the Fathers of the Church, appear on the cir- 
cular wall behind the altar, and above the seats appropriated to 
the dignitaries of the church. Such was this magnificent cathe- 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 119 

dral, as it appeared to me at my first glance of the eye round 
on its parts. 

We stepped into the sacristy, my friend being on pleasant 
terms with some of the respectable ecclesiastics, and to one or 
two I was introduced ; to the chanter, in particular, in his dress 
for the day, whose powerful and sweet voice soon after re- 
sounded through the cathedral. In the sacristy, I observed a 
beautiful picture of " the man of sorrows, and acquainted with 
grief." It was different from West's, and every other I have 
seen, in the whole cast of the countenance. This circumstance 
seems to show that there is no traditionary representation of 
the face of our blessed Lord, as some have supposed ; but that 
successive painters have only endeavored to combine what- 
ever is reverend, and holy, and lovely, in their image of him. 
There is greater roundness and fullness of countenance, than 
in West's Jesus healing in the temple. Yet there is a divine 
gravity and sweetness in it. The chanter led us out of the 
sacristy, to see a little spot of earth on the eastern side of the 
building, set with a few small trees and flowers, where, he said, 
they were wont to take a litde fresh air. 

In the sacristy, there was a large number of priests and 
youthful attendants ; the latter pursuing their studies in the 
Jesuits' College, to prepare themselves for the priesthood ; and 
their ministry on these public occasions, serves to initiate them 
in their future duties. They, in general, had interesting and 
intelligent faces : but their dress, in brown gowns, with a short 
white frock over them, gives them a feminine appearance. 

The chanter suddenly left us, at the signal for high mass. 
Two of the youths advanced, and took each a taper on a can- 
dlestick, eight or ten feet high, and conducted the dean, sup- 
ported by two deacons, (as I understood them to be,) covered 
with very splendid mantles, to the altar. The usual ceremonial 
was gone through. Incense was burned, and a chant was sung, 
and played on the organ in a style of perfection I have never 
heard equalled. There was great power and equal sweetness ; 



120 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

admirable timing and correspondence. " Gloria in excelsis " 
was performed in great grandeur. In the course of the long 
service, there was a variety of ceremonies solemnly and grace- 
fully performed. As there were so many sustaining a part, 
and it is so important that there should be no omission, and no- 
thing out of time and place, they have an experienced priest, 
whose office it is to prompt when it is needed, so as to secure 
perfect order. One part of the ceremonial was a procession 
round the cathedral. A young man, perhaps eighteen years 
old, carried a veiled crucifix on a staff, attended by others with 
different instruments in their hands, the names of which I have 
not ascertained. They were followed by perhaps forty or fifty 
priests, chanting as they went, and occasionally stopping, pro- 
bably to invite the adoration of those they passed. They pass- 
ed near where I was standing with my Spanish friend, a Catho- 
lic, but also a liberal man. He a little inclined his body, but 
did not kneel. 

After the ceremonial of high mass was over, the scriptures 
were brought to one of the deacons, and he approached the 
dean, and bent to receive his benediction, to go and read the 
Gospel to the people. He laid his hand upon him with a brief 
form of words, and he repaired to the pulpit and read, after 
solemnly announcing it, a portion from the Gospel of Luke, in 
Latin, a language which the people do not understand. This 
done, he returned to the priest who sent him with his benedic- 
tion to read, and resigned him the book, which, in token of rev- 
erence he kissed and closed. 

In the afternoon, the same obliging friend took me in his 
volante to see the Campos Santos, the Catholic burial ground, 
one of the important improvements accomplished by the public 
spirited and liberal Bishop, in the suburbs of the city. It had 
been the immemorial practice of the city to bury in the vauhs 
of their churches ; and these Golgothas were filled with human 
dust and bones, and the health of the city exceedingly ex- 
posed. To remedy this serious evil, the Bishop formed the 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 121 

beautiful cemetery in the suburbs, which we went out to see. 
It is a square enclosure, containing perhaps four or five acres. It 
is enclosed by a beautiful wall, plastered as smooth as the 
pavements of houses in this country, many of them not surpass- 
ed, for smoothness and hardness, by marble. At each corner 
and on two of the sides, were erected shafts in a pyramidical 
form, ten or fifteen feet high, which give a monumental air to 
the enclosure. These walls and shafts are painted in pannel 
work. At the entrance is a neat building, the central part of 
which is intended for the last rites performed over the dead as 
they pass to the grave ; and at one end of the building the priest 
lives, who performs these rites, and in the other the sexton. 
The yard is traversed by a pavement of flat stones, in two di- 
rections, dividing the square into four equal parts. One of 
these paved walks leads from the entrance to the farther side, 
where has been erected a small beautiful chapel, in which the 
rites are performed in greater style, for such as are able and 
willing to contribute a handsome sum to charitable uses. Near 
this chapel for the rich and noble, are stones purporting to 
be the sepulchres of Governors, Bishops, distinguished Civilians, 
and distinguished Ecclesiastics. In this neighborhood we found 
on stones the names of many of the most distinguished families 
of the country. 

Just as we arrived, we found the service for the dead per- 
forming over the body of a priest. He lay dressed, so far as I 
could see by a hasty glance, in the usual habit of a living man. 
When the service was over, which consisted in part of chanting, 
the attendants took up the corpse in a shallow coffin, without 
any covering on the upper part, and moved off with a quick 
step to the grave. The head of the corpse, reposing on its 
pillow, was visible all the way, and was kept in constant motion 
to the right and left by the hasty walk of the porters. Several 
graves in the yard I saw already dug, to be in readiness for 
those that might need them. 

The Bishop had some of the strongest prejudices of the 
16 



122 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

people to combat, in building this new cemetery. Fortunately, 
the first death, after the yard was in readiness, was that of a 
Spanish noble. The friends besought the Bishop that he might 
be buried in the church ; but he was inflexible, and would 
grant him Christian burial no where but in the Campos Santos. 
People of less standing, therefore, followed the example, and 
the difficulty is gone by. * * * 

It required great moral courage in the Bishop of Havana to 
achieve this important change in the burial of the dead. The 
long cherished custom of burying under the sacred walls of the 
church, where the most solemn rites of religion are daily 
performed, and the prayers of the devout are ascending, and 
ascending for the dead, had naturally entwined itself round the 
hearts of Catholics, and could not be rent away without vio- 
lence to their strongest prejudices. But the health of the city 
required it, and the Bishop with great wisdom and resolution 
took his measures, and has achieved a beneficent change, which 
will endear his memory to posterity. It is the Bishop's meas- 
ure ) yet he was politic in associating the name of the Captain 
General, Someruelos, with his own, that the union of civil and 

ecclesiastical authority might render success the more certain, 
•se i^ «- 

From this interesting spot, which might suggest profitable 
hints for the arrangement of Protestant burial grounds, we pass- 
ed a few rods, to the Insane Hospital, which has been just com- 
pleted on an extensive and beautiful scale, but is not yet occu- 
pied by its unfortunate tenants. It has a handsome front build- 
ing, through which you pass into a spacious court, the four 
sides of which are divided into distinct rooms or large cells, for 
the separate accommodation of the lunatics. 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 123 

LETTER XXXII. 

TO MRS E A . 



Havana, March, 1828. 

From the insane hospital we repaired to another benevolent 
institution in the neighborhood, the Lazaretto for lepers, a class 
of persons scarcely less pitiable than those who have been de- 
prived of reason ; often much more sensible of their misery, 
oppressed with a disease usually incurable, infectious also, and 
therefore requiring exclusion from the ordinary consolations of 
society. This benevolent institution was originally upon a large 
scale, and capable of accommodating many inmates, which 
seems to show that the disease is prevalent in this country. The 
institution is now evidently in considerable neglect. The gate 
was open, and negroes were idling around it, some or all of 
whom may have belonged within. It is a large open court or 
square, inclosed with a row of huts, some of them in bad repair. 
In the centre is a large building, which possibly may be the 
common kitchen and store-room. Some parts of the square 
were inhabited, and the rest were shut up. A considerable 
number of lepers, however, were to be seen, some exceedingly 
disfigured in their faces, but the larger number affected in their 
extremities, their feet and hands. Some had no fingers above 
the middle joint. An air of wo was upon the face of all; — a 
sort of desperation seemed to characterize the look and move- 
ment of a few. From one or two of the apartments came the 
sounds of the guitar and voice, implying the experience of bet- 
ter days, and .an endeavor to recall in their seclusion the tones 
of gladness and joy. When new benevolent institutions are at- 
tracting peculiar attention, it will sometimes happen that those 
of longer standing fall into comparative decay and neglect. But 
the compassionate of this city will but need a short walk within 
the walls of this lazaretto, to awaken an active sympathy. 

Our next visit presented a delightful contrast to our walks in 



124 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

places devoted to the dead^, the lunatic, and the leprous. It 
was in the magnificent institution called Casa de Beneficiencia, 
or the house of mercy. It is appropriated to the subsistence and 
education of orphans and friendless children. In the first in- 
stance, females only were admitted ; but with a noble accession 
to its funds, boys also now share the benefit. It was com- 
menced by the Governor, La Casas, in 1795. * * 

A noble accession to its funds has been made by — , 

in the gift of lands in the partido of , estimated at 

$200,000. The appearance of the buildings is very fine, ex- 
tending several hundred feet on the main street, and as many 
on another street, the whole enclosing a spacious court, with a 
living brook, probably diverted from the city canal, ranging 
through the premises, and diffusing health and cleanliness among 
the numerous children and youths of the establishment. We 
entered through the chapel, a neat building, and more than suf- 
ficient for the accommodation of the house of mercy. We 
ranged through the lofty and spacious halls on the lower and 
upper story, under the conduct of the respectable gentleman, 
who presides over the institution; and visited the apartments of 
those who were slightly ill with a cold, and of those who were 
more seriously ill. It was a holiday, or the hour was that of 
amusement, and we saw the children and young ladies in small 
groups, or sitting at their large windows, grated in the fashion 
of Spanish houses, all neatly dressed, and some tastefully. 
Some were amusing themselves with reading, and some with 
work, and the litde girls were innocently sporting from hall to 
hall. 

Having passed over the apartments appropriated to the fe- 
males, their school-rooms, their eating-rooms, their immense 
hall in which their cots are arranged for the night, after the 
manner of the Moravians, but decently removed to a private 
room for the day, we entered on a distinct suite of rooms for 
the accommodation of the boys, in most respects similar to the 
other. ' ^ 



LETTEBS FROM CUBA. 125 

A useful education is given in this Institution to two hundred 
females, and forty boys, and to all except ten, at the expenss 
of the institution. The ornamental kinds of needlework cro 
taught, as well as the more useful, and even music. In the 
boys' apartment we found the Lancasterian plan adopted ; the 
walls were hung with the usual tablets, and the benches with 
slates. It is remarkable that females once entered into this 
establishment remain as long as they please, or till they are 
married ; if married from the house, they are portioned as 
daughters of the family, each bride receiving a dowry of §500. 
Several of the young ladies we saw in friendly conversation with 
young gentlemen, their brothers possibly, and possibly friends 
entertaining for them still tenderer sentiments. 

We returned to the city through the Ptlontserrat gate, and 
passed, in the street next to the southern wall, to see the fash- 
ionable city walk. * * ^ * * 

We left the volante, and entered on the promenade, meeting 
gentlemen and ladies at every step, and many occupying the 
seats, which are constructed of the same material as the smooth 
and level walk. 

We were again taken up by the volante, and set down by the 
Governor's square, and ranged over the garden, beautiful by 
moonlight. We took a transient view of the new chapel, and 
passed to the landing-place of drogers, and ranged along 
by the wharf neatly covered with plank, and closely stowed 
with ships, the bowsprits of which all ranged over the wharf, to 
occupy the less room in this crowded harbor. We passed in 
. front of the building soon to be occupied as the more commo- 
dious custom-house of this grand depot, and returned to my 
lodgings. 

Tomorrow I leave Havana on a journey into the country. 



126 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

LETTER XXXIII. 

TO MRS E A . 

March 27th, 1S2S. 

With a friend, according to a previous arrangement. I started 
at 5 o'clock for St Antonio at the leeward. Our horses were 
without the walls, and we passed on foot a very little after day- 
break to the western gateway which we found thronged with 
loaded mules. Hundreds, probably thousands, moving heavily 
under their burdens, were pressing for a chance to enter, and 
raising a suffocating dust. They were tied together in long rows, 
each row under the care of a driver. My well informed friend 
remarked that from ten to fifteen thousand enter the city daily. 

We mounted our horses, with our baggage in the seroon of a 
servant, and passed through the suburbs of Havana. The 
porch is larger than the house, and the environs than the pop- 
ulous city. We travelled several miles through compactly 
built streets, the shops at this early hour open, and the market 
men and women crying their goods, and chaffering from shop 
to shop. It was amusing to observe in the suburbs what I 
have observed in Matanzas and the villages, the taste of the 
Spaniard for ornamental painting. On the fronts of shops and 
houses, and on plastered v^^alls by the wayside, you continually 
see painted, birds, and beasts, and creeping things, men and 
women in their various vocations and amusements, and some 
things and some images, not strictly forbidden by the letter of 
the commandment, being like nothing in heaven above, or 
in the earth beneath, or in the ivaters under the earth. 

The first part of the distance to St Jago had the appearance 
of extensive gardens for the furnishing the great city with vege- 
tables. Plantations were rare. The roads were cut down by 
much travel. We passed a handsome stone bridge. The face 
of the country, however, is not very interesting, and there is 
little appearance of coutitry seats, to which the opulent of the 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 127 

city might often repair for the sweets of retirement and fresh 
air. Rich soil, hill and valley, and various irregularities of 
site and prospect, render the country near Havana well adapt- 
ed to such buildings, avenues, and gardens as embellish the en- 
virons of Boston. That they have not been improved, may, 
perhaps, be imputed to the fact that many of the wealthy have 
plantations in the country, to which with a little more travel, 
they can repair, and by their visits answer the double purpose 
of business and pleasure. * * * 

St Jago is a considerable village, with the usual appendages 
of a church and priest. « * * 

St Antonio is a village of 3000 inhabitants, and is a watering 
place of considerable resort. * * * 

About four leagues from Havana commences a beautiful level 
country, generally of red soil, extending to the south coast, and 
thence nearly to cape San Antonio, westerly, and for a hundred 

leagues easterly. At the village of San Antonio, leagues 

from Havana, commences the very garden of the island. 
Plantations of coffee, beautifully laid out and neatly cultivated, 
are almost continuous, and the eye of the traveller is constantly 
delighted with the finest specimens of agriculture. The pres- 
ent depression of this staple product, has induced some negli- 
gence here and there. But the pride of the planters, and the 
easy circumstances, in which they have been placed by better 
crops, and better prices in former years, and the hope of better 
times arising from the change of some coffee estates into sugar 
in this island, from a considerable diminution of the culture in 
the Brazils, and from the civil wars of Java, induce the plant- 
ers generally to cultivate their estates with undiminished indus- 
try and neatness. 



123 LETTERS PROM CUBA. 

LETTER XXXIV. 

TO MRS E A . 

Empressa, April 1st, 1828. 

This morning I left Buena Esperanza with and 

lady, for St Marks. We bad a delightful ride to the house of 

his cousin, . Almost the entire distance is occupied 

with coffee plantations, in general in great neatness, with shorn 
lime hedges, and avenues of palm, and the finest fruits of the 
island. To this neat and fine appearance, one plantation, that 
we passed, presented a perfect contrast. The soil was good; 
there was a luxuriant lime hedge, but no pruning ; in short, it 
was a plantation running wild. I inquired the reason of it, and 
was informed, that the proprietor had given himself up to intem- 
perance, and the negroes did and omitted what they pleased. 

Among the most distinguished estates, that we saw in this 
morning's ride, was that of the Captain of the Partido, and Mr 
Freer's. We turned from the public road into the great avenue, 
and travelled a mile in it to another public road, and passed a 
very tasteful arrangement of the mansion and other buildings at 
an equal distance from the two roads. We then entered on a 
very rocky soil ; yet, even where there was scarcely any soil 
to be seen, the usual number of coffee-trees were stuck in 
among the rocks. These trees when first set out, had flour- 
ished and borne plentifully ; but they, appear to have exhaust- 
ed the power of the little soil they could find, and it is difficult 
to manure with effect. 

We arrived at the Empressa at an early hour to breakfast, 
and just as the sun was becoming intense. The island at this 
place is quite narrow being six leagues from Mariel, and three 
from the south shore. They speak of Mariel as a f^ne bay and 
harbor. It would be another Matanzas, if the immense capi- 
talists of Havana did not exert a steady influence to prevent it. 
The estates to the leeward have petitioned that it may be a 



LETTERS FIIOM CUBA. 129 

port of entry. But it has been denied them, and their produce 
at an immense expense must go to Havana by land carriage or 
drogers. This is a very good thing, perhaps, for the merchants, 
but a very great diminution of the value of distant estates; and 
last, not least in the consideration of an American, a serious 
misfortune to young and healthy seamen, who, in such num- 
bers every year find a grave in Havana. 

When it is seen how fatal as well as fair is the bay of Hava- 
na, not to Americans only, but to the seamen of all nations, 
Spaniards not excepted ; not merely in the heat of summer, 
but at every season of the year, when for any length of time 
the north wind fails to stir the stagnant pool, a remedy \{ practi- 
cable, ought to be applied. A remedy is thought practicable. 
It would be some relief to open ports of entry into safer bays, 
and thus divert a part of the navigation which crowds this har- 
bor, to other parts. Havana, however, would still be frequent- 
ed. Merchants will send vessels to' the port without calcula- 
ting the risks of the seamen, and seamen, notoriously improvi- 
dent, will continue to sail into the jaws of death. There w^as 
something of truth couched under the uncouth hyperbole of the 
black prince Christophe — that " Hang up a hag of coffee in the 

mouth of , and Americans will he found to go after it.^^ 

Let, then, the friends of humanity concert some measure 
which may cast healing into the waters. 

It is not quiicotism to say, that it may be done ; and at an 
expense not very considerable. It is generally, for anything I 
know, universally, agreed, that the fever in the bay is in conse- 
quence of the stagnation of its waters. The bay is landlocked 
and entered by a narrow strait, and hidden by the Moro, and 
the high and fortified hill on its northern side, from the salutary 
influences of the trade wind. Thus sheltered, nothing in its 
present state, but a violent norther, can stir the pool. The 
tide is almost nothing, and the regular winds do not act upon it. 

At the eastern end of this northern hill, the ground is low, and 
17 



130 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

would easily admit of a canal, which should let Into the bay the 
current from the east, with the impulse of the trade wind diffus- 
ing in its course through the bay, motion and health. It is not 
easy to see any very serious objection to the experiment. The 
distance is not great. It lies through very practicable ground. 
And if in its course it should cut into the rock, which is every 
where the base of the island, so much the better, as it would 
place the current the more perfectly within control, a rock 
easily broken, while it is sufficient to resist the tide. 

If by such means the end may be accomplished, it will be 
consulting the interests of the city, as well as of the seamen, who 
crowd this port, to do it. The fever catches from the bay to 
the city. It lies level with its margin, and it is not surprising 
that the miasma should creep from its slimy bed into the dirty 
lanes and narrow streets, (none are wide,) the humbler hovels, 
and even the sumptuous palaces of this great mass of stone and 
mortar. The men, who own millions v/ithin the walls are con- 
cerned surely in proportion to their property, to favor any 
scheme which promises relief from this calamity. If in their 
high and spacious apartments and open courts they have little 
apprehensions of fever, acclimated also as they are, it is worth 
a portion of their wealth, that fresher air should fan them, and 
that they be relieved from the painful consciousness, that the 
angel of death is stalking through the streets, and ravaging over 
the bay. 

Other interests, besides that of health, might be consulted 
by this measure. It would tend to make Havana what it desires 
to be, a vast and still increasing emporium of the island. This 
is important to the island while in its present critical political sit- 
uation, menaced by neighbors, and not very powerfully defend- 
ed by the mother country. The force of the island is concen- 
trated in the Moro and Cabana. And so powerful are their 
fortresses here, that they are almost fearless of all foreign 
powers. The opulent are well pleased to hold their capital 
and real estate under the protection of the guns of the Moro 



LETTERS FROM CUBAr 131 

and Cabana. Whatever tends to the health of the city and 
bay, tends to perpetuate the commercial prosperity of Havana, 
and to extend to still wider limits its suburbs. 

The revolutionary spirit pervading other Spanish colonies, so 
called by Spain — by themselves called independent states — may 
kindle in this island. If the king or his ministers, deprived of 
the revenue, which in freighted galleons used to pour into his 
treasury from Mexico and the South, should impose burdens on 
this more faithful, and perhaps, more judicious colony, too great 
to be endured, it may seek relief by independence, or attach- 
ment to some more discreet foreign power. If independent, it 
would not be inconsiderable among the nations. The extent 
and fertility of the island, and its rapidly increasing population, 
strong by the predominance of the free, with a diffiision of hardy 
Monteros over the whole island, living in simple habits, every 
one with his horse, and his long sword by his side, make this a 
different island from others in its neighborhood, and entide its 
individual interests to be consulted either as a colony, or as an 
independent state. In the event of change, the best security 
for Havana to remain what it is, will be to heal its waters. 

It is devoutly to be hoped the experiment will be made. 
Millions have been expended in fortifying the bay and city 
against hostile foreigners. Let a few thousands be expended in 
keeping out the pestilence walking in darkness and the destruc- 
tion wasting at noonday. 

On Mr William D'W.'s estate there is a sumidero forty feet 
deep, and water in it which never fails ; and many caves in 
this neighborhood which communicate with each other. I find 
caves wherever I go ; it is a remarkable characteristic of the 
island. It is probable enough that they pervade the island, 
and that it is a honey-comb. To this circumstance may it not 
be imputed, that the island has been exempted from the calam- 
ity of earthquakes, with which the neighboring continent has 
been so often visited ^ 

About sixteen miles from Mr D'W.'s is the village of Gaun- 



132 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

ajoy, containing about 7,000 souls, and a church and priesto? 
who is honorably employing his time in instructing a school. 
He boards as well as instructs his pupils, and receives twenty 
five dollars per month for each pupih How dignified appears 
the minister of Christ, who devotes his leisure hours, (many, 
where two sermons a week are not required of him, as among 
protestant ministers,) in rearing the youth of his flock in useful 
learning. If the priest of each parish would do the same, 
what reproachful examples of idleness, gambling, and cock- 
fighting would at once disappear, and the moral " desert blos- 
som as the rose." If the noble Bishop of Havana, who has 
done so many things which will embalm his name to a hundred 
generations, should devise a method by which his clergy should 
be so employed, a richer odor would accrue to his name than 
fi:om his other magnificent acts. Soon an enlightened pop- 
ulation would spring up in every village. The rich would 
have less occasion to send their sons abroad for education. 
The Monteros would acquire intellectual vigor in proportion 
to their physical ; and the island would rise into its higher des- 
tinies. It were devoutly to be wished, that he were but forty 
years old, instead of threescore and ten. Long may he live, 
and retain the present vigor of his mind, and a heart as large 
as the sea. 

Besides the school kept by the padre, there are two others 
in this populous village. There are twelve, perhaps more, in 
Havana. They are increasing, I believe, through the country, 
and every example will be followed by many others. 

My friends conducted me to the beautiful estate of Senor H. 
and we remained a few hours, and dined with this accomplish- 
ed and opulent Spaniard. His lady, with a train of twenty 
horses, to transport servants, baggage, and things essential, was 
gone to the watering-place of San Diego. The husband de- 
clined the excursion, thinking it pleasanter to remain in the 
scene of beauty and convenience which he has spread around 
him. He seems well to understand the art of living. He 



I 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 153 

would like a residence in the United States, but could not 
bear the cold. A dozen ounces would not be sufficient to 
draw him abroad into the hot suns of the island. A little of 
this nice economy judiciously practised, would save some on 
this island from the stroke of the sun, and preserve many more 
in good health; and deserves the serious consideration of those 
in whose native country the mercury, in the course of the year, 
traverses from zero to one hundred degrees upwards. 



LETTER XXXIV. 



TO MRS E- 



La Recompensa, St Marks, April 5th, 182S. 
We arrived at Dr M.'s at dusk, (April 1st,) and were re- 
ceived with the kindest hospitality. I was unwell at my arrival, 
and ready to impute my illness to the extreme heat of the day, 
and a degree of exposure to it. I went early to bed, and in 
the morning was no better. My old cough waked up with 
violence ; a band of iron was strained round my head ; a fever- 
ish state of the pulse was perceptible ; my loss of appetite was 
evident, and my strength was considerably prostrated, and I 
was apprehensive of some unpleasant change. It was a kind 
ordination in Providence, that at such a moment I fell into the 
hands, and under the hospitable roof, of an accomplished phy- 
sician, and, as he has proved, a very kind friend. As the 
change had taken place from my ordinary state of health in a 
dozen hours, I was led to review the circumstances of the day 
minutely, and detailed them to the Doctor. To some of them, 
a degree of exposure to sun, and a walk in an irrigated garden, 
he gave some weight, but pronounced it the influenza, at this 
time, with more mildness than usual prevailing in the neighbor- 
hood. With his judicious treatment, on the third day I was 
essentially better ; my cough, however, has only abated, and not 
subsided ; my appetite is returned, and my strength is returning. 



134 LETTERS FROM CUBA, 

My course is arrested in this beautiful district, the wide gar- 
den of the island, by a check of my health, and lest I should 
not have opportunity to advance further, I have collected such 
information of interest as I could from a gentleman vs^hose pro- 
fessional duties have rendered him familiar with an extensive 
neighborhood. 

The beautiful spot of country around me, is the Hacienda of 
St Marks. A Hacienda is a circle of land, granted by the king 
to a family, which cannot be sold in fee simple without an order, 
but may be leased perpetually ; and this is done at from $25 
to $15 for 33 acres per annum, the land being good. This 
Hacienda is about six miles in diameter. The lessee proceeds 
to make improvements on his land ; clears off the wood ; plants 
his cofiee trees ; sets his avenues. He again may sell his lease 
to a second person ; but he charges in the sale of the lease from 
$12 to $90 per acre, according to the improvements he has 
made. 

Real Lengua is land sold by the king in fee simple ; for 
which he receives about $20 per acre. As the island is cut 
up into circles, all the parings of the circles belong to the king ; 
so that he seems to be everybody's neighbor. 

There is a liberty v/liich the king, as the grand tobacconist 
of the island, takes, which would not suit the republican nerves 
of our countrymen. He is anxious to encourage the culture of 
tobacco, especially that of the finest quality, some of which sells 
as high as 125 to 130 cents per pound. This can be grown 
only on particular patches of soil, alluvial soil, (I believe,) it 
generally is. Some are more skilful in discovering the patches 
adapted to this precious culture than others. Any man has a 
right to pass into his neighbor's field, of which he takes a fee 
simple, and drive his stakes to mark out a tobacco patch, called 
a hega, to indicate the peculiarity of the title, by which he 
claims it ; and for a reasonable price, the proprietor must give 
up the ground peaceably, or yield it to force. A string of these 
little plantations, little wheels belonging to some man, within 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 135 

great wheels belonging to other men, may be seen in different 
parts of the island. With a very little capital, and other aid, a 
man may take up his bega ; and a speculating capitalist often 
buys a number of them scattered through a neighborhood. 

The mountains of San Salvador are < a bold feature in the 
prospect of this part of the island. From the centre of the 
Hacienda of St Marks they are fifteen miles distant, and are 
about eight leagues long and six broad ; and about one third of 
this hilly country is in a state of cultivation, yielding in different 
parts sugar, cocoa, indigo, corn, rice ; three acres will yield 
twentyfive arobes. The violent rains of summer are injurious 
to the land, washing the soil in their course into the valleys. 

When the French fled from St Domingo, then in the hands 
of the negroes, many of them resorted to these mountains, as 
resembling the spots in that island which they had cultivated in 
coffee, and with what they had rescued from the wreck of their 
fortunes, they commenced coffee estates on the sides of the 
mountains, thinking that mountain air was necessary to the cul- 
ture of coffee. They very generally lost their property in the 
experiment, as the rains soon washed the soil from their trees, 
leaving the roots above ground. It was on table land in St 
Domingo that they planted, where they were not liable to the 
same misfortune. These French planters were driven from 
the island, while the Cortes were in power ; but returned to 
their possessions when the ancient regime was restored. They, 
however, are in circumstances of depression. 

Twenty miles east of San Salvador, from sea to sea, the 
country is highly cultivated in coffee and sugar. It is generally 
the very best land, and very little of it in a forest state. There 
are valuable portreros, or pastures, inclosed for hogs and cattle. 
They are very effectually fenced by pinon hedges, aloes hedges, 
and sometimes by wattled pickets. They are weeded with al- 
most the same care as their coffee plantations, are adorned by 
scattering palms and other ornamental trees, and in some of 
them you may see a small dense grove cut into arches, and 



135 LETTERS PROM CUBA. 

overgrown with vines, forming an impenetrable shade for the 
animals, while the wind can circulate in any direction. These 
portreros are valuable estates, easily managed without much at- 
tention by the proprietor. To every plantation at least a small 
one is attached,. to raise their meats, and feed their horses and 
mules. Larger ones are leased to Monteros ; one near me 
yields a rent of $5000 per annum, and another, of 165 acres, 
rents for |1000. 

In leasing a portrero, the pasture and stock are both included. 
The stock is numbered and estimated, and must be returned in 
the same condition as that in which it is taken. It is commonly 
profitable business, which a man of good judgment and charac- 
ter can undertake with a small capital. Meats on the island 
usually sell at 18 3-4 cents per pound ; and a great variety and 
quantity appear on their tables. 

Swine are raised on the island with great ease, especially in 
connexion with a plantation. The immense quantity of plantain 
raised among the coffee, and the superabundance of the mango 
fruit, which bends down the boughs of that large and beautiful 
tree, rows of which shade the extensive avenues of the planta- 
tion, to say nothing of smaller matters, afford a rich, a delicious, 
and fattening food for swine, almost inexhaustible. Corn also, 
in two, sometimes three, crops in a year, comes in to fatten the 
animals for the market. 

Of this branch of revenue the negroes come in for a share, 
and there is scarcely a male or female adult slave, that has not 
his hog. Yet they are always in demand, and sell at a high 
price, from $10 to $50. 

From the mountains of San Salvador S. W. to Cape Antonio 
is the tobacco country. It is here that the finest in the world 
is raised. It is not raised in great quantities, chiefly because 
the occupants are idle. This district of country is the refuge 
of many persons of questionable character. The administration 
of justice is very lax. Stealing, robbery, piracy, when they 
dare, contraband trade with the Mexicans, gambling, and every 



LETTERS FHOM CUBA. 137 

species of crime boldly stalk about this part of the island, and 
render it an unpleasant and even dangerous re'sidence for better 
men. A further reason for a very imperfect cultivation of this 
fruitful region is its insalubrity. It is watered by many streams, 
and in the wet season intermittent fever is very prevalent. 
Cultivation, however, is increasing. Since coffee has been de- 
pressed in price, planters have sent small lots of hands to cuhi- 
vate begas, or tobacco patches ; and have found it profitable. 
As the importation of the article has been recently prohibited, 
and the consumption of the island is immense, of Havana alone, 
it is confidently said, $10,000 per day, to say nothing of the 
export, it must be profitable. There is some uncertainty about 
the crop, it being a plant of great delicacy, and its excellency 
and quantity depending much on the nice adjustment of rain to 
its wants. But, though an article of luxury, it has come to be 
considered an article of necessity, and the free negro appropri- 
ates a bit of his wages to increase the cloud of smoke that rises 
from the city and country ; and with every uncertainty of sea- 
son, the planter may safely go into the culture. 

The tobacco planter occupies his ground the first part of the 
season with corn, or potatoes, or yams, to provide food for his 
laborers, and to put his land into a good condition. Then in 
September, when the rains have swelled the rivers above their 
banks, and have left a fine alluvial deposit on the surface, they 
plant the tobacco. That extraordinary tobacco which brings 
the enormous price already mentioned, is a few leaves only of 
a plant ; the residue of the plant is ordinary. The very best 
tobacco comes from a spot called San Juan y Martinez. 



18 



138 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

LETTER XXXV. 

TO MRS E A 



La Recompensa, St Marks, April, 1828. 

It was mentioned in my last that the district of country S. 
W. of the mountains of San Salvador, was insalubrious. A be- 
nignant Providence seems always to place the antidote by the 
side of the poison. Springs of an extraordinary character are 
found on the borders of this unhealthy district ; I speak of the 
waters of San Diego. They lie 35 leagues southwesterly fron^i 
Havana, and are the most celebrated of the many springs on the 
island, containing sulphuretted hydrogen gas in greater propor- 
tion than any waters hitherto known in the world. * * 

These springs are frequented in the months of February, 
March, and April. There are about 350 persons on the ground 
at once. One hundred invalid soldiers are usually here, in 
miserable accommodations, for the benefit of the bath. The 
opulent are almost as wretchedly disposed of, and pay roundly 
for the sheds they occupy. There are about thirty ranchos 
leased to the strangers for thirty dollars per month each. These 
are huts of the slightest structure, with roof and sides of palm, 
and one or two partitions, occupied nine months of the year by 
swine, and the rest by ladies and gentlemen. So that those 
insects which banquet on swine three quarters of the year, have 
more delicate feasting in the watering season. It is with diffi- 
culty that servants can keep out the old tenants, while the ran- 
chos are in possession of the new. But even the quadruped 
invaders of their miserable conveniences are less annoying than 
the biped ; for thieves are perpetually on the watch to purloin 
horse and mule, and every tangible article of value, that has not 
a sentinel placed over it. 

There are a few houses at the springs a little better con- 
structed, of mud walls; yet for these, rude as they are, 119 
dollars are charged for thirty or forty days, and they are rented 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 139 

two or three times in the season. That sick men and women, 
allured by the hope of leaving all their maladies in the flood, 
should resort to these waters, is not surprising. But that per- 
sons in health should leave every earthly convenience at home 
to be devoured by vermin, swindled by gamesters, and stripped 
by thieves, at San Diego, can only be accounted for on that 
restless principle in mankind which prefers a change to evil 
rather than uniformity in good. 

The time will come when the country southwest of San Sal- 
vador will be better cultivated, and its population assume a more 
regular character. It is generally laid out in haciendas, or land 
subject to perpetual rent. Already immense droves of cattle 
and swine issue from its portreros. Its select spots on the banks 
of rivers are more and more taken up for tobacco. The check 
given to coffee will prove a spur to this species of culture ; and 
many who have been almost ruined by rains washing their coffee 
estates on the sides of mountains, may repair their fortunes by 
following their soil to where it is deposited on the banks of the 
rivers, and cultivating on it the fascinating weed for which mas- 
ter and slave, and in this country, 1 might almost say, ladies and 
gentle Jien, are equally eager. 

* * * * 

In speaking of the country west of Havana, it is judged that 
there are about six coffee estates to one sugar plantation. The 
quantity of land necessary for a sugar estate is vastly greater 
than what is necessary for a coffee plantation. Sugar is most 
cultivated near the port of Mariel ; coffee, in a circle round St 
Marks. Black soil is best for sugar ; red will answer for it, 
but is sooner exhausted by crops. 



140 LETTERS FROM CUBA, 

LETTER XXXVI. 

TO G B , Esq. 

La. Recompensa, St Marks, April, IS28. 
* * % -K^ 

The largest coffee estate on the island of which I have heard 
consists of a million of trees ; the next in size, it is said, but the 
information can hardly be supposed to be very exact, is the 
Angenora, (or Argenora,) consisting of 750,000 trees, and 450 
slaves. As this vast estate is conducted on principles somev^hat 
original, some might take upon them to say, eccentric, and yet 
with excellent success ; and as many of the expensive arrange- 
ments have a striking character of humanity, while also they 
result in excellent discipline, several of my friends acquainted 
with the proprietor, attended me to see it. Fortunately, the 
planter, who is also a merchant, was on the estate, and as com- 
municative as the inquisitive could desire. A concise, yet de- 
tailed account, may furnish hints to the enterprising and humane. 

For his hatey, or extensive square of buildings, he selected a 
rude spot of hill and valley, surcharged with rocks. This is 
approached by a broad and superb avenue, adorned in the usual 
manner, except that at the foot of the hill, on an elevated pe- 
destal stands his sylvan deity, the Goddess of Silence, furnish- 
ing the name and emblem of the bachelor's estate. It is a fine 
marble statue in Roman costume, indicadng by sign what she 
suffers not to pass her lips. 

His principal building occupies the crown of the hill, and is 
309 feet long, and 69 broad ; of the latter, thirtytwo feet are 
piazza, and on the north side of the building it is glazed, that 
the health and comfort of himself and negroes may in a moment 
be consulted by letting down or suspending the side of the piazza. 
A cold norther was blowing, and the negroes very comfortably 
picking coffee behind the glass. 

In the first apartment of this extensive building is a mill to 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 141 

grind the corn of the plantation, going by ox power, the oxen 
below and the stones above. The corn is rapidly shelled by a 
simple machine turned by a crank. The next apartments are 
store rooms for coffee in the cherry, competent to hold 20,000 
barrels. In the centre of this building is the peeling mill, ter- 
minating in a cupola. Near by was a beautiful mill of stone, 
ready to be put down, hard as granite, white as chalk, nicely 
jointed and bevilled by his black masons, which he expects will 
never need alterations or repair. 

It is a maxim with the proprietor that negroes should have 
money, and should spend it. To encourage the latter part of 
this plan, he furnishes a shop in an apartment of the building 
next to the mill, with everything ihey may wish to buy that is 
proper for them ; cloth cheap and showy ; garments gay and 
warm ; crockery ; beads ; crosses ; guano, or the American 
palm, that they may form neat hats for themselves ; little cooking 
pots, &c. Sic. He puts everything at low prices ; and no ped- 
ler is permitted to show his wares on the estate. 

The next apartment is the carpenters' room ; in which were 
tools and benches, some articles of household furniture ; plane- 
cases neatly made, and soaking in oil ; acana wood, hard to saw, 
and easy and smooth to plane, dark as cherry tree, a quantity 
of which was getting out for bars and saslies for the splendid 
hospital which he is building for the estate. 

The next apartment is the clothes room, fitted up with cases 
of 300 drawers, numbered, and the name of a negro and his 
wife on each drawer, and their apparel made to their size, and 
laid away in it against the first of January, when two suits are 
given at once. To prevent fraud their clothes are marked with 
indelible ink ; their tools also are marked. 

To prevent any abuse from the reception of two suits of 
clothes at once, there is a parade day every week, when each 
negro is obliged to appear with one suit on, and one in his hand, 
accompanied with his blanket. If anything is missing the whole 
are assessed to replace the lost article, as he thinks no roguery 
takes place among them but it is generally known. 



142 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

The next apartment is an elegant hall, floored with wood, an 
unusual thing in this country, glazed and painted, that it may 
be safe and warm in any change of weather. In one of the 
windows was an ^olian harp of great power and sweetness, 
resounding at the touch of the norther. 

The next apartment is a breakfast room and library; through 
which we passed into a spacious bedchamber. The last three 
apartments are hung round with pictures, many of them in fine 
taste. 

The piazza at the eastern end of the building serves for a 
dining hall. In this is a fine piece of statuary, representing a 
water deity, with a cask on his knee and the bung out, filling a 
marble vase with water for washing hands before and after 
dinner. 

Connected with the eastern end of this building is a lying-in 
hospital and inclosure for the young Creoles, an interesting and 
populous spot. You first enter the yard, inclosed by a plastered 
wall, the top of which is set with broken glass. This yard has 
a plastered floor like a coffee-dryer, that the Creoles may not 
be able to find dirt to eat, which they are prone to do, and 
which brings on swelling of the bowels, and destroys many of 
them. This yard is shaded by trees set in boxes, and leads to 
the lying-in hospital. Here we saw a double row of cradles 
well filled, and a young creature only fifteen years old sitting 
between two of them to take care of her twins. In the whole 
inclosure were ninetyfive Creoles under ten years of age ; and 
the most discontented little thing among them became instantly 
quiet, when perched in naked ebony on his master's arm. 
Children are sometimes destroyed through the jealousy of the 
husbands, and also through the neglect or abuse of unnatural 
mothers. One woman was pointed out to me suspected of 
having made it easy for four of her children to die ; they died. 
At the birth of the fifth the master warned her that if the child 
did not live, she should smart for it ; he lives, and is one of the 
finest of the Creoles. From the very unusual success in raising 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 143 

Creoles on this estate, these hints deserve the consideration of 
planters. As a premium for rearing children, the mother of six 
living children is freed from labor for life, and has her mainte- 
nance on the estate. 

North from the principal building, on the batey already de- 
scribed, beyond a valley of two or three hundred yards, and on 
a rising ground, is erecting a splendid infirmary for the estate. 
The length of the building is 126 feet, and the breadth 30. 
The basement story is finished, and the principal story is almost 
completed. The building is intended for those who are morally 
infirm, as well as physically. At each end of the infirmary, 
therefore, in the basement story, is an apartment called the 
stocks, the one for male criminals, and the other for female. 
They are spacious arched rooms, and well ventilated with spi- 
racles. 

The stocks are formed by two thick planks, with holes large 
enough to admit the small of the leg, cut half in the upper plank 
and half in the low^er, and made fast together at the ends. At- 
tached to this contrivance for securing the legs, which extends 
across the apartment, is a bed and bedding, and pillows, that 
offenders may lie without needless pain, and think over their 
cases. 

In the basement also is another large and spacious room, 
occupied as a store-room, but which, in case of insurrection, is 
intended as a place of confinement. Smaller rooms in the 
basement are prepared to receive persons with contagious dis- 
eases, as leprosy, &c. There are two arched ways leading 
from the infirmary to the yards in the rear, one for each sex. 
The yard is inclosed with a high wall, and a partition separates 
the sexes ; and in each half is a kitchen and convenient offices, 
and a cistern into which water is poured from without, that there 
may be no communication between the sick and the well. 

The principal story of the infirmary displays taste and hu- 
manity. We ascended into it from the front by a flight of twenty 
spacious stone steps. It is divided into six rooms. Two of 



144 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

these rooms are floored with boards, and glazed, that every 
delicacy of treatment may be observed towards the very sick. 

The building is to terminate with a third story on the central 
part, divided into two rooms, the principal for the matron, or 
grand nurse of the establishment ; the other for the apothecary. 

As prevention is preferable to the cure of diseases, and many 
are contracted by exposure in the rainy season, the proprietor 
has erected thirty sheds scattered over the estate, to which the 
laborers may flee in case of sudden showers. In sickness, when 
necessary, wine is furnished. 

In 1S25 the small pox broke out on this estate, and ninety 
slaves had it the natural way, of which only one died. He had 
at the same time forty sick of other diseases. 

The proprietor carefully avoids overworking his negroes, as 
tending to fill his infirmary. In the winter he gives them a 
recess from labor at noon of an hour and a half, and in summer 
of three hours, and no night work is permitted on the estate. 
The best comment on these humane arrangements is, that a 
more healthy, muscular, active set of negroes, as many have 
"remarked, is not to be found on the island. 

The bohea, or square of negro huts, is judiciously arranged 
on a hill, fifteen or twenty rods east from the principal building 
of the batey. Two families are accommodated under one roof, 
and a space of a few yards is left between each two buildings, 
fenced by a high open picket. In this manner the negro huts 
enclose a large square, which is entered by an iron gate. When 
the plantation becomes as populous as the proprietor hopes it 
will, this square will be a litde negro city, with streets running 
at right angles. 

The valley between the mansion and the bohea is to be an 
extensive garden ; and at the head of this valley are forming 
immense tanks, to be filled with water from the well arranged 
coffee driers, from which every rod of the garden can almost 
without trouble be irrigated. 

Other parts of his plan, less original, are omitted. I only 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 145 

add, that the 1st of January is the negro's red letter day on this 
estate. On this day no work whatever is done ; it is entirely 
given up to mirth and festivity. All liberties, except crimes, 
are permitted. At three in the morning, they make a general 
rush upon their master, and wish him a happy new year. Each 
receives a handkerchief as a present. Pardons are distributed 
in all cases, except of crimes wdiich the laws of the land pro- 
scribe ; and for one day in the year the slaves are everything 
but master. 

Mr S. has a peculiarity in sending his coffee to market, to 
which he may be indebted for getting the highest price. Coffee 
he remarks, often suffers by rain, on its vvay to Havana, though 
covered with hides, — and afterwards by dampness in stores and 
at sea. To prevent this he packs his coffee in large casks, 
neatly made by his own coopers, of atage wood, and iron bound. 
By this means it arrives at Havana and the most distant market 
perfectly dry. In cleaning his coffee, he highly approves of 
Chartrand's divider, and has a half dozen of them in use. 

His crop of corn this year was 3750 bushels. I saw in his 
loft many bags of dried plantain, saved in the abundant season 
for his negroes in that season when it yields less abundantly. 
A new species of corn, I saw also in sacks, wnich he called 
melio. 

Mr S. has prepared his last bed, or tomb, at the northern 
entrance into his estate ; and the coffin, he remarked, w^as to 
be soon made of incorruptible wood. 

He intends soon to hire a musician, to be employed in se- 
lecting and instructing a band of forty of his negroes, that they 
may amuse him in his declining years, and attend him with 
mournful airs to his grave.* 

At an expense of f 500, he has caused an actual survey to 
be taken of the road from Havana to his estate. As it is filled 
out with all the turns and angles of the distance, and with the 

* See second visit at Mr S.'s estate, May 15th. 
19 



146 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

villages by the way, it is a valuable map. He observes that the 
river which crosses the public road in San Antonio, merges in 
that town, and pursues its course eighteen miles under ground, 
two of it under a bog, without communicating with it, and at 
last emerges from under high ground, and is thence beatable 
for a mile to the sea. Mr S.'s opinion deserves consideration ; 
yet it is not likely to be very generally embraced. When a 
stream sinks out of sight in an island full of sumideros and caves, 
extending nobody knows how far to the points of the compass 
or the centre ; it is matter of conjecture v/holly, from whence 
comes water emerging at any point. No person has followed 
the subterranean stream, nor ascertained its course. The opin- 
ion, therefore, will be regarded by some as gratuitous, by few 
as more than probable. 

A branch of the Canimar, in the Leraonal, I think it is, dis- 
appears, and after passing under ground a quarter of a mile, 
reappears under circumstances, which occasions a belief in the 
neighborhood, that it is the same stream. This fact gives some I 

countenance to the opinion of Mr S. 

The wells at St Marks are of different depths ; some are 81 
feet deep. On the northern side of the Hacienda some are 
309 feet deep ; and some on the next estate 264. At D'W.'s 
there are some only 7 feet ! The latter estate is about four 
miles from the sea or south shore. 



LETTER XXXVn. 

TO — 

St. Marks, April 12th, 182S. 



On the whole, I have concluded that the most beautiful class 
of trees on the island is the Royal palm ; and it is also very 
useful. It has curious peculiarities ; though it sometimes runs 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 147 

a hundred feet high, it has no roots as big as a finger. Its 
roots resemble those of asparagus, and are innumerable. It is 
further remarkable, that this tree commences at once a full 
sized trunk, and its age is determined, not by its size, but its 
height, or the number of circles marked on its smooth, white, 
polished surface, which looks as if* it came out of a lathe. 

Another peculiarity of the palm, is that it has no substance in 
the interior of its trunk. Yet the outside, to the thickness of 
an inch and a quarter, makes the firmest of hoards, and when 
dry, is hard enough to turn a board-nail. In ascending the 
palm, there is no limb from root to top, except it be the bush 
near the leaves, on which a large quantity of seed grows, of 
which swine are as fond as of acorns, nuts, or corn. The 
leaves^ which appear like a superb tuft of waving feathers, are 
invaluable for thatching ; the part of the stem, which clasps the 
trunk, and which unrolls and falls with the leaf, serves to form 
the sides of the hut, and to saddle the ridgepole of a thatched 
building ; to make gutters for water, and ribbons in the manu- 
facture of cane baskets, and strings for various uses. The top 
yields a substance, boiled as a vegetable, not exceeded in delica- 
cy and flavor by the finest cauliflower. It is also pickled. But 
this delicacy for the epicure, costs the life of the tree. Out of 
the palm alone, a comfortable house may be constructed with- 
out a nail from ground to ridgepole. 

In a former letter,* it has been remarked, that the bejuco of 
the forest often subdues and destroys the largest trees, and 
changed in its nature from vine to tree, triumphantly occupies 
the spot from which it has ejected the unfortunate creole. But 
I have sometimes seen the ambitious vine, after a long and hard 
fought battle, completely defeated. It is generally in those 
cases, where it has fixed on the Quiebra Hacha, or break-axe, 
as its victim. For strength and hardness, for towering height 
and size, this may be called the king of the Cuba forest. 

* See page 59. 



14S LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

A single stick of it for a Spanish sugar mil), has cost from 
six to twelve ounces, that is, from one to two hundred dol- 
lars. 

I have seen the ambitious and parasitical bejuco in the 
beginning of its onset on this magnificent tree, in the height of 
the battle, and at the end of> it. The young serpent seemed 
aware of the difficulty of the enterprise, and wound himself 
round the tree midway from the root to the top, in a compact 
spiral, himself the size of a large cable. The tree was very 
sensible to its gripe, swelling out above and below, half cover- 
ing the folds of the serpent with its fungous growth. The top 
gave signs of yielding ; but the tree, to save its life, sent out a 
stately succor below the deadly grasp, which v,'as already a foot 
in diameter, and will be a lofty tree, when the main stem shall 
have perished. On the Buena Esperanza, there is yet stand- 
ing a huge Quiebra Hacha, twenty feet in circumference, in- 
folded and webbed by bejuco from top to bottom ; but both dead; 
they have perished together in the mortal struggle. 

The plantain is one of the greatest blessings of heaven to a 
tropical climate. It probably constitutes three fourths of the 
subsistence of the black population of the island, and is a, health- 
ful luxury on the table of every white man in town and coun- 
try. The ease and abundance with which it is raised, is 
astonishing. It will grow among rocks with almost no soil ; in 
gorges, where nothing else can be cultivated, among coffee, 
repaying to that delicate plant by its shade, as some think, what 
it takes from the common soil for its aliment, but loves a patch 
of good soil entirely to itself. 

Planted in the manner last hinted, it is a beautiful sight. 
They are set in rows about fifteen feet apart. When the patch 
is in a mature state, there are from three to seven plants in a 
hill. The plant grows from twelve to fifteen feet high ; its 
stem is from six to ten inches in diameter; its top has long 
waving leaves like a palm, and each plant yields about a hun- 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 149 

dred plantains if a female, and a less number, but of a larger 
sizGj'^if a male. 

The economy of this plant cannot be observed without ad- 
miration. From the centre of its leaves, it pushes forth a pur- 
ple cone, ten inches long, and four in diameter, in form like a 
pond lily before it opens. This cone hangs suspended from a 
strong stem. One leaf soon unfolds from the cone, displaying 
under its shelter a row of young plantains, which, with mater- 
nal tenderness it protects from the suns, and cold, and wet, till 
they can bear them, and then falls. Then another leaf relaxes 
from the cone, and brings forward its brood as before ; and 
the process goes on till the bunch of plantains is as large and 
heavy as the stem can conveniently sustain and perfect, and the 
rest wither in immaturity. 

The most delicate plantain is the African, called the fig ba 
nana. It is gently, but effectually medicinal, when the bowels 
are affected by heat ; and, to a northern palate, is a fine substi- 
tute for baked apples. 

The plantain is good in a green state, and when ripe, boiled 
and roasted, fried and baked. With eggs it makes a fine pud- 
ding. Sliced and dried in the sun, it may be long preserved 
for ordinary use. It has been sometimes gathered, just as it 
w^as ripe, and carefully dried in the sun, till it was in a cured 
state, preserving it from all dew and dampness during the pro- 
cess. In this state it has been exported to old Spain with profit. 



LETTER XXXVIII. 

TO . 

St Marks, Aprii. 13th, 1828. 

In travelling in Cuba, I have heard the remarks of many 
planters on the subject of arguadiente, or ardent spirit, and its 



150 LETTERS EROM CUBA. 

effects on negroes. As it is sold for half a bit for a junk bottle 
of it ; as taverns are thick all over the country, where it can 
be bought ; as few negroes are without money, and most of 
them are passionately fond of the liquor, it follows pretty natu- 
rally that they drink it, and the usual evils, physical and moral, 
are lamentably frequent. Most of the quarrels on plantations 
are traced to this cause ; more punishments are inflicted for 
intemperance, and crimes committed in consequence of drink- 
ing, probably, than for all other faults whatever. The acci- 
dents befalling volantes may be commonly charged to the 
intoxication of caleseros. 

The evils are manifestly many and great. To correct them, 
some masters and administrators punish intoxication with great 
severity. This however, does not prevent the repetition of the 
crime ; for the temptation is irresistible, when the habit of 
drinking has been once formed. 

On some plantations, a litde indulgence is given ; a mode- 
rate quantity is allowed to the negroes at the birth or christen- 
ing of a master's child ; and in the rainy season, to prevent 
colds and fevers when they have been wet. One thing is cer- 
tain ; — in these ways, the relish is kept in lively remembrance 
in the elder negroes, and a dangerous appetite is awakened in 
the younger, which must be expected to seek irregular gratifi- 
cation. And this will lead to those rigorous measures on a 
plantation, for which neither the pleasure, nor even the benefit 
of the indulgence, if there be any, can be considered as any 
compensation. 

I would be the last man to abridge the comforts of this un- 
fortunate class of men, but I am entirely satisfied that the great- 
est kindness which can be rendered them, is to place the liquor 
on ail occasions, wet and dry, beyond their reach. As an 
article of materia medica, prescribed by an enlightened physi- 
cian, I would not absolutely proscribe it. That, however, 
should be the only exception. 

On three contiguous estates of more than four hundred 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 151 

slaves, has been made, with fine success, the experiment of a 
strict exclusion of ardent spirit at all seasons of the year. Not 
only drunkenness, but drinking is punished, however moderate. 
A sure method is practised for detecting the drinker, however 
sober he may be. It is impossible to disguise his breath. Va- 
rious expedients were attempted, such as infusion of strong scent- 
ed herbs in his posset. But the unerring nose of the administrator 
or mayoral, always detected the offender, and inevitable cor- 
rection followed, till the offence is almost unknown on the 
estates. 

Ft was a deep conviction on the part of the proprietor that 
the bad health and early death of many of his slaves, and the 
irregular conduct in their families, and consequent suspicions, 
and jealousies, and bloody revenges, in some cases amounting 
to murder of child and parent, were chiefly imputable, directly 
or indirectly to ardent spirit, which brought him to the resolu- 
tion of banishing it entirely from his estates. The success has 
very far exceeded his most sanguine hopes. Peace, and quiet- 
ness, and contentment, reign among the negroes; a better 
state of health is evident ; Creoles are reared in much greater 
numbers than formerly ; the estates are in the neatest and 
highest state of cultivation, and order and discipline are main- 
tained with very little correction, and the mildest means. 

The writings of enlightened physicians of the present day, 
accord with the theory of this humane planter. They utterly 
deny the necessity of spirit to the laborer in heat and cold, in 
seasons wet and dry. Substitutes more salutary may in cases 
of exposure to drenching rains be adopted. Molasses, hot 
water, and ginger, are the best correctives of the chill, followed 
by a warm and fine garment. What is the effect of the sud- 
den flash of liquid fire, compared with the genial warmth ob- 
tained by these milder means ? 

A serious evil on the other hand arises from the custom of 
giving a glass of spirit to a wet negro or a wet gang. They 



152 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

will love to get wet and cold, that they may be warmed by their 
favorite beverage. Their motive is obvious. 

But cut off all hope of the indulgence, and cases of expo- 
sure, of fever, and death will be diminished. As a means, 
'then, of order and peace, and contentment on a plantation ; a 
means of keeping the hospital empty, and the bohea full of vig- 
orous laborers, and the plantation populous, and cheerful with 
Creoles, let ardent spirit be banished from the plantation. 

Nine tenths of all the crimes and poverty and calamity of the 
United States, spring from ardent spirit, and the abuse of lib- 
erty in the use of that dangerous poison. Can a humane plant- 
er, whose word is law in this regard, confer a greater blessing 
on his slaves, than to provide that they live in happy ignorance 
of the moral and physical evils which oppress so many of the 
free ? 



LETTER XXXIX. 

TO HON. N D ,L.L.D. 

April, 1828. 

Dear Sir, — There is no subject connected with Cuba, of 
greater interest to a curious stranger, than that of its population ; 
and none concerning which there is greater difficulty in coming 
to a correct statement. I have listened to conversation on the 
subject among well informed men, Spanish and foreigners ; 
and have carefully examined the most recent authorities in 
public documents, and consulted the last edition of Baron 
Humboldt, 1827, and the statistical expose of B. Huber, 18275 
not with the hope of coming to any accurate result, but of ar- 
riving at something near the truth, as to the present population 
of the island, and the several proportions of white, and colored, 
and negro, of freemen and of slaves. 

The latest census of the island was taken in 1817 ; and from 
various circumstances it cannot be supposed very accurate, 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 



163 



especially in regard to the slave population. As slaves may be 
subjects of taxation, some masters would be likely to keep back 
part of their number. As the importation of slaves has been 
prohibited by law, those which have been brought to the island 
since 1819, a very considerable number, cannot regularly enter 
into the enumeration. Much must be left to conjecture, there- 
fore, in estimating the population of the island. Without going 
into dry details, not very suitable in a letter, but which may be 
seen at a minute extent in Humboldt, and also in Huher, in 
which latter, however, there are some very considerable errors, 
and some manifest inconsistencies, I shall content myself with 
giving a few tables from these authors, and stating the opinion 
of the most judicious and intelligent men with whom I have had 
the privilege of conversing in the country, and two of the prin- 
cipal cities. 

Population of Cuba according to census in 1817. 



Males. 


Females. 


Clergy, 
Srci; ar. 


Clorgy, 
Regular. 


Monks. Troops. 


Total. 


129,656 


109,140 


515 


348 


171 19,430 


259,260 



Of Color. 


Free Population. 
Black. 






Males. 


Females. 




Males. 


Females. 




Total. 


70,512 


29,170 


28,373 


26,002 


154,057 



Of Color. 


Slave Population. 

Black. 




Males. 


Females. 




Males 1 Females | Irapor^^ed in 


'I'otal. 


17,813 1 


14,499 


106,521 60,322 25,976 


225,131 



Recapitulation. 



White, 

Free black and colored, 

Slaves, 



Free 
Slave 



Total 
Baron Humboldt, for end of 1825. 

(Whites 325.000^ 
I Colored 130,000 



259,260 
154,057 
225,131 

638,448 



455,000 
260,000 



Total 



m 



716,000 



154 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

Till the census which is taking by the Captains of Partidos, 
and the Alcaldis of jurisdictions throughout the island, intended 
to be very exact, but which will, from the nature of the opera- 
tion in this country, be liable to considerable imperfection, shall 
make its appearance, I venture to put down the whole popula- 
tion of the Island at 1,000,000 of souls ; of which 500,000 are 
free, and 500,000 are slaves. Of the free, 300,000 are white, 
125,470 are mulattos, and 74,530 negroes. Of the slave pop- 
ulation, about 50,000 are mulattos. 

The proportion of slaves in this estimate is considerably 
greater than the writers before me have acknowledged. It is a 
favorite idea in this island, and very well founded too, that so 
great is the proportion of the free, that there is no manner of 
danger from insurrection of the slaves. Fully to enjoy the 
comfort of this idea, there seems to have been a pretty general 
consent to diminish the number of slaves. But whoever has 
travelled in the cultivated parts of the island, which is an exten- 
sive portion of the whole surface, where a few caballerias of 
land call for a hundred laborers — whoever considers the impos- 
ing fact that in the twelve Partidos of the province of Havana* 
alone, in 1817, there were no less than 625 sugar estates, and 
779 coffee estates ; and that both have been increased, the lat- 
ter astonishingly, since that time, perhaps doubled in number, 
in consequence of the high price which coffee then bore, will 
have no difficulty, I think, in allowing the above estimate of the 
slave population of the island. 

Of the free population, the great majority is Creole, that is, 
horn on the island. There are many emigrants from old Spain 
and the Canaries. There are many foreigners from the Unit- 
ed States, from France and French islands, from England, Ire- 
land and Scotland, from the Netherlands and Germany, from 
Switzerland and Italy. 

A large proportion of the slave population is from Africa; 

* See Baron Humboldt, p. 194. Par Edit 1827. 



I 



i 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 165 

for there is a decided preference given to African over Creole 
negroes ; and population was not much encouraged before the 
importation was prohibited, and embarrassed. Indeed, it was 
the policy of sugar planters to purchase males alone ; and they 
were not allowed wives off of the estate ; therefore they were 
wholly denied a privilege, even more eagerly coveted by blacks 
than whites, and were condemned to monkish celibacy — or that 
which was very much worse. A policy so barbarous has been 
abandoned by most, but it is retained by some, and even by 
coffee planters where the labor is comparatively light, either 
excluding females from the estate, or locking up the sexes in 
separate buildings. But since the convention between Spain 
and England, by vt'hich the slave trade on the coast is made 
penal, the price of female slaves in Cuba has considerably risen. 
And it is evident that the difficulty and danger of obtaining 
them from the coast, though it does not prevent the attempt, 
and the attempt is sometitnes successful, is, and will be, attend- 
ed with circumstances of considerable alleviation to the condition 
of the slaves, especially the female slaves. 

Though the subject is attended with delicacy and difficulty 
your inquisitive and philosophical mind will not be satisfied 
without some remarks on the elemental classes of this million of 
souls ; for the two Americas and the islands which lie in their 
neighborhood, have been the subject of your patient research 
for more than thirty years. I cannot have had my eyes open 
four months in the interior, and in two of the principal cities of 
Cuba, without forming notions of character in some degree de- 
finite. But I would suggest them with respectful and kindly 
caution. 

The foreigners settled on the island have naturally brought 
with then) prejudices and partialities, derived from their natal 
soil. But, in very many, these soon become considerably 
modified by situation and local interest. They have a domicil 
in the country, and a fee simple in the soil, and they become 
conformists in manners and customs which are innocent ; and 



156 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

sometimes even in those of an immoral character, perhaps from 
easiness and love of pleasure, from the constraining power of 
fashion, or the graver consideration of interest. Waiving any 
obvious remarks on this fact, as it bears on the principles of the 
higher order, the political tendency of this conforming disposi- 
tion, in matters indifferent, is to conciliate mutual confidence, 
and beget a Cuba feeling, a patriotic and national sentiment, 
which in the end may answer high purposes. 

If there is a disposition in foreigners to conform in costume, 
equipage, building, table, salutations, and other indifferent mat- 
ters to Spaniards and Creoles, there is evident respect, in turn, 
shown to the intellectual endowments, advantages of education, 
enlightened experiments and improvements in agriculture, and 
instruments of husbandry, regard for the Sabbath, and moral 
habits by which many emigrants are distinguished ; and in some 
of these particulars they are slowly imitated by the natives. 
Time may, therefore, be expected to bring about an improved 
national feeling in the island, and advantageously amalgamate 
materials of different origin and character. Some progress in 
this important respect has been undoubtedly made. 

As the great body of the free population is Spanish and 
Creole, you will be chiefly anxious to learn something of the 
classes into which they may be distinguished. There are two 
strongly marked divisions, and these are susceptible of sub- 
divisions, but I wish to avoid minuteness. These two divisions 
are the tided and opulent, and the Monteros, whom I may with 
propriety call the yeomanry of the island. 

I shall resume the subject. 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 167 

LETTER XL. 

TO HON. N D , L.L.D. 

April, 1S28. 

I HAVE already stated to you the two leading classes, or di- 
visions of the free population of Cuba. Of these, the titled and 
opulent Spaniards have the first claim on our attention. Huber 
states that there are thirteen Marquises, and sixteen Counts ; 
but the actual number on the island is eighteen Marquises, and 
tvventytwo Counts. Some of them derive their titles from noble 
families in Spain ; others have been created counts, or marquises, 
for real or supposed subserviency to the royal interests ; and it 
is understood that others have received a title for a handsome 
douceur sent to the royal treasury. 

The title is not a mere name and feather. The marquis and 
the count have peculiar privileges ; one is independent of arrest 
for debt, and exempted from the ordinary punishments for 
crimes, treason, I believe, excepted. Money, money may settle 
accounts for them, which, for others, must be settled by the 
halter. They have no ex-officio connexion with the govern- 
ment ; but there is a disposition, if their endowments are not 
too insignificant, to bring them into the cabildo, and other public 
offices. 

We may remark in passing, that a military title also exempts 
a man from liability to arrest for debt by the civil officer, though, 
of course, he is subject to a military tribunal. Many commis- 
sions are purchased for the benefit of this privilege, and other 
incidental conveniences attending it, while yet the holders are 
not attached to the army. 

There is not that stars of awe and homage in the island when 
a count or marquis is passing, as in the chivalric mother country. 
They seem to be regarded very much as other men ; and, in 
fact, as made of the selfsame clay. Some of the families are 
highly respectable, independent of rank and opulence ; but 



158 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

generally, this island nobility is behind the present period of the 
world, and belongs to the age and the court of the Second En- 
glish Charles. They are however very opulent, with few ex- 
ceptions ; but some of them take advantage of their privileges 
to delay the payment of debts. 

It is probable that some part of the deference formerly paid 
to the privileged orders was lost during the constitutional gov- 
ernment of Spain and the colony, and the character attached to 
many of them has not tended to recover it. The day has gone 
by, especially in the neighborhood of the western continent, 
when deference can be commanded without deserving it. In 
most parts of North and of South America, there are none but 
nature's nobles, the highly gifted, and the nobly virtuous, and 
public spirited. There is no exemption of some from the obli- 
gations of laws binding on others; and government is not for 
any superior benefit of the few, but to impart equal protection ; 
and he who will be chief, must be servant of all. 

In the event of foreign war, the counts and marquises would 
be firm to the king and island, for they have much to lose ; 
but their physical force would be nominal, as they have no vas- 
sals whom they could safely arm. If in the course of events 
the king and island should conclude to separate, their immense 
landed property must bind them to the island, as the royal 
treasury has too many calls upon it to remunerate their attach- 
ment to the throne. There is vast wealth in the island of Cuba. 
1 would venture to say that few spots on this globe of no greater 
dimensions than Havana, are richer than that city. A lady of 
distinguished family, dying since the year came in, (I have it 
from high authority,) left $400,000 to each of her numerous 
children, and the immense territory of ninetynine haciendas to 
be portioned among them.* The knowing ones affirm a con- 
siderable number to be worth from four to eight millions each ; 
and, without regard to the funds of England, and America, in 

* A hacienda is a circle of land usually sis miles in circumference. 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 159 

which vast sums have been deposited, the evidences of property 
in sugar estates, and coffee estates, and haciendas, go far to 
justify their opinion. There is vast vveahh in the island, if we 
consider the great number of planters of a secondary class, and 
the number of merchants doing business independently of loans 
from banks. The landholders scattered over extensive dis- 
tricts, whether in part owing for their estates, or clear of debt, 
constitute a class of enlightened and educated men, to whom 
the island must look with confidence in the possible events be- 
fore it. They are fast anchored, and will generally abide by 
the ship. Their property is too great to be sold to adventurers, 
and too pleasantly situated, if prosperity should attend the island, 
to be abandoned with sacrifice. 

The other large class of the free population of the island, 
entirely Spanish, is the Monteros, whom I would describe by 
the name of the yeomanry of the island. When I heard in my 
own country of Monteros in Cuba, for very little has been known 
of ti.e interior of the island, I supposed them a sparse population, 
confined to the mountainous districts. And when I first saw a 
young Montero, in his simple dress of a red striped shirt and 
trousers, with his long machet, or broadsword, suspended from 
his waist by a handkerchief, mounted on an apperaro, or straw 
saddle, his feet dangling without stirrups, flying rather than 
travelling through the Sumidero, I gazed after him as a rare 
sight from the mountains, as 1 would gaze after a Cossack. 
The same had misled me, as I presume it has thousands. 

Soon I was partially undeceived. But it was weeks before 
I suspected the fact, that they constitute, except in great cities, 
the great majority of the free population of the island. They 
are not more in the mountains than in the plains. They are 
diffused over the wiiole surface of the island, where there is any 
population at all, and engaged in a great variety of employments. 
With few exceptions, they are the mayorals on coffee and sugar 
estates. Many have the charge of haciendas and hartos, and 
on horseback watch and keep in check the immense droves of 



160 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

cattle, almost wild, which graze in those broad pastures. Innu- 
merable portreros, or smaller pastures, are owned by Monteros^ 
where they fatten swine, as well as cows and calves, for the 
neighboring and distant markets, and subsist those fine oxen, 
whose labor is so profitable to them. 

A great branch of business with the Monteros, is carting. 
Sugar estates and coffee estates furnish them employment in 
carrying their bulky and heavy produce to the embarcaderos, 
and the ports of entry, and in bringing back the necessaries for 
the plantation. In cities the Monteros are considerably em- 
ployed about the wharves in trucking with their oxen ; I have 
noticed their dexterity at Matanzas with surprise. With the 
ox-reins in their hands, they will drive to half an inch in the 
narrow streets, and move about as quick as the trucks of our 
own country with horses. 

Others are employed as harrieros, drivers of horses and 
mules, in strings of from five to fifty, each animal carrying two 
hundred weight. The drove is either wholly, or in part, owned 
by the drivers. 

If I were to select one term, which should characterize the 
greatest number of them, 1 should call them farmers. The 
Sitios all over the island are small farms, and owned and culti- 
vated by Monteros. And they live in the greatest simplicity on 
those fine constituents of bone and muscle, pork and plantain. 

The tobacco country is chiefly cultivated by Monteros ; and 
there, if better disposed to labor, and free from the vice of 
gambling, they would soon rise into wealth. — Such are the 
Monteros of Cuba ; and if furnished with the same advantages 
of intellectual and moral improvements, they might bear com- 
parison with the yeomanry of the United States. 
-^ It is not magnifying the importance of this class of the free 
population to say, that the safety of the island in peace and war 
is in a good degree in their hands. They are its militia, and 
always armed. Wherever there is a numerous slave population, 
there is danger. They are much on the plantations as may orals, 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 161 

or carters, and are firm in the opinion, that one Montero, if 
there were any difficuhy, is equal to fifty negroes. The best 
security of the island against the horrors of St Domingo, is this 
armed militia. 

Danger may be apprehended from the Mexicans and Co- 
lombians, if their afiairs were in a more settled state at home. 
If a little pains were taken to improve the IMonteros by educa- 
tion, and to discipline them in bodies as militia, they would be 
a powerful defence against irruption, and would stand between 
the invaders and the negroes, and prevent their seduction. 

There ought to be a generous confidence reposed in the 
Monteros, by their countrymen of the island. They have gen- 
erally a freehold, and some of them are rich. Some that wear 
the simple striped shirt and trousers at home, as the highlander 
his plaid, appear in the garb of gendemen in church and on a 
journey. The sitio and portrero under the care of an industri- 
ous man, not unfrequently becomes a field of cofi?ee, and the 
farmer is changed into a planter with thirty or forty negroes. 

The Monteros are not only very numerous, but increasing 
faster than any other species of population on the island. Tljis 
increase is partly by emigration from the Canaries ; for most of 
the emi2;rants from those islands fall into this class or establish 
themselves in th : little shops and taverns, which sprinkle the 
country roads and villages. 

But they are increasing by natural population. They marry 
very young, — the girls usually from thirteen to eighteen, and 
the young men i^rom seventeen to twentyone. A handsome 
young girl was as' ed by a stranger, whose children were the 
six he saw playing round her. " J?fi?ze," she replied; and she 
was but twenty two years old. Two brothers and two sisters 
near where I am writing have fortyfive children, and are young 
enough to have many more. A single mother of this neigh- 
borhood has had twenty ; some of them, I believe, she has lost. 
I am told the average number of children in a family is from 
eight to fourteen, as nearly as a look into a well known neigh- 
21 



162 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

borliood could determine. This is an increase in a higher ratio 
than in the United States; and the island, if they should pay- 
greater attention to education, will at no distant day he strong in 
such a yeonrjanry. And, 1 add, 

There is an increasing attention to education among the Mon- 
teros. The greater success of those who can read and write 
stimulates parents to school their children. The sensible Mon- 
tero, who can neither write nor read, feels no paltry jealousy 
of his children's rising to a higher grade in the community than 
he has been able to reach ; but lamenting his own want of early 
advantages, gives them, if possible, to his children. There is 
an instance in this neighborhood exactly in point. A father 
who cannot read has brought a teacher for his children from 
Havana ; and should he have the wisdom and resolution to 
become himself a pupil, it will be to his immortal honor. 



LETTER XLI. 

TO HON. N— D ., L.L.D. 

April, S82S. 
The cursory view of the free population of the island, taken 
in my former letters, would be imperfect, should I not attempt 
some account of its moral character. They have their virtues ; 
and they have their vices. Of the first I shall speak with un- 
feigned satisfaction ; of the last with regret, and, I hope, with 
candor, certainly without intentional exaggeration. For though 
my residence in this island has been short, I have been so ab- 
sorbed in the subject of my investigation, and my feelings have 
risen so far towards enthusiasm, that I may almost lay claim to 
the local passion of patriotism. At least I must be allowed to 
say that few things could give me a satisfaction so solid or so 
great as to see their virtues increased a hundred fold, and their 
vices, deep rooted as they are, entirely eradicated. 



~ LETTERS FROM CUBA. 1^3 

It has been with great pleasure, that I have heard, in all 
parts of the island, which [ have visited, o^ the parental avthority 
and Jilial piety of the Spaniards. In a former letter I mentioned, 
on the authority of a respectable and intelligent Spaniard of Old 
Spain who had passed six weeks among tliem, the patriarchal 
state in which Monteros live, in a district about fifty leagues to 
the windward of Matanzas. The case is very similar fifty or 
sixty leagues to the leeward from the same city. A (ew anec- 
dotes will best illustrate the point which I give on unquestiona- 
ble authority, and only at second hand from the Montero himself, 
whom I have seen again and again. 

Having long been employed by the lady, to whom I refer, as 
a carter of produce to the market, he sometimes took the liberty 
of conversing with her on his own affairs ; and once mentioned 
the grief, that had come upon himself and his wife by the gross 
misconduct of his son, then eighteen years old. '• Why, mad- 
am," said he, " the rash boy took the liberty the other day of 
going to the next village, without ever consulting his parents, 
and purchased a machetta, and brought it home. I can never 
forgive the shopkeeper for consenting to him. But, I assure 
you, he was not long in possession of his long blade and silver 
handle, and Russia leather belt. He got his mother to make 
impegnio for him, that he might not have the shame to carry it 
back, at least before he had kept it a day or two. But I was 
deaf, and sent him off at once ; and I think he will not be likely 
to take an important step again, without the advice of his pa- 
rents." 

The age of majority, according to Spanish laws, I understand 
is fixed at twentyfive. A youth, m.arried or unmarried, but at 
any rate in his twentyfifth year, was so undutiful, in some mat- 
ter of conversation, as to contradict his mother. But she in- 
stantly corrected the rudeness by a slap on his cheek, and he 
retired in confusion to vent his feelings in tears of contrition. 
The proverbial expression in Spanish denoting a spoiled child, 
" consentida," a child consented to, — a child having its will, — is 



164 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

wittily happy, and implies a general sense of the necessity of 
authority and submission between the parties. 

A youthful Montero, well known in this laniily, once thought 
the parental yoke too heavy, and left bis father. After one 
day's absence, he regretted the undutiful step ; but dared not 
return without a mediator. He therefore applied to a person 
who had great influence with his father, to make impegnio for 
him. 

He readily attempted to bring about a reconciliation. The 
father complied with his friend's request to receive back his son ; 
but as soon as he was gone, he said to his full grown boy, — 
''Where did you think you could hide yourself, that I should 
not find you ? " And gave him a correction, which he will never 
forget. 

Thus strict is the family discipline among the rude Monteros^ 
It wears a gentler aspect in the higher classes of Spanish society. 
Here, submission and dependence are courteously demanded^ 
and cheerfully rendered. The young members of the family,, 
with affectionate humility, before retiring for the night, kiss the 
hands of their parents, and ask their benediction. They bestow 
it in words like these : — " May God make you a saint." — ^" May 
God make you good and iiappy." It cannot be denied that the 
most important relations and duties are recognised in this cere- 
mony of every evening ; and that its tendency is to enliven the 
sentiment of respect and affection between the parties, and to 
improve the sense of their dependence on the great common 
Father of parents and of children. 

[n this connexion, because probably growing out of this family 
custom among the Spanish, I mention a kindred custom among 
the negroes of their houses and estates. — the custom of asking 
their master's blessing, and of ejaculating a petition for his wel- 
fare. You cannot pass a half dozen little Creoles, without 
hearing their cheerful voices commending you to God ; and the 
same thing happens in passing the men and women in the field. 
Whether from my costume they judge me to be a clergyman, 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 165^ 

aTid on this account do it, I know not ; but as often as T dis- 
mount, a stranger before the house of a Spaniard, a servant as 
he takes the bridle, drops on one knee, and asks my blessing. 

These customs on the part of slaves, which wear an affec- 
tionate and religious aspect towards their superiors, it is the 
soundest policy in masters to encourage, while at the same 
time it somewhat lightens the yoke of bondage on their necks. 
They have the pleasure to see, that they are recognised as the 
humble children of their master ; and though there is a mea- 
sured and awful distance between them and others, they feel a 
sentiment of dutiful attachment to the family, and a common 
interest in its safety and welfare. 

But to return from this digression. To preserve to a late 
period in life the sentiments of authority and duty, is the ten- 
dency of the custom among opulent Spaniards, of settling their 
married children near them ; and where they can, in the same 
house. This is one object in those large mansions in Havana, 
extensive and splendid enough to be denominated palaces. 
Three or four distinct establishments, or suites of apartments, 
are found under one roof, occupied by different members of the 
patriarchal household. Still in some respects they form one 
family. There are halls for common meetings, — at least for 
devotion, which is conducted by a chaplain. Something similar 
occurs among the Monteros, where a father on a few caballerias 
of land, establishes his married children and grand children all 
around him. 

On this interesting subject I have enlarged, because it pre- 
sents a very distinctive trait in the Spanish character — a trait 
for which, in substance, I have a profound respect. As to the 
means of its being maintained, and the manner of its being ex- 
pressed, different nations, and different individuals of the same 
nation, may agree to differ. But as to the thing itself, as to the 
immense importance of family subordination, there can be but 
one opinion among pious, moral, or reflecting persons. Duti- 
fulness to parents, lends to piety to God 5 submission to domestic 



166 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

authority prepares the members of the family, those thrifty ele- 
ments of the larger community, to become bright examples of 
submission to the magistrates, and the laws. And I add, if 
submission and duty to superiors is not taught and secured in 
the family, it is probable it may hereafter be necessary for the 
magistrate to teach it, with a whip of scorpions. 

Tiie war of the revolution served in some degree to lower 
the high standard of family discipline in our country ; the French 
revolution gave to it a still heavier shock. The cant and rant 
of that day was " Liberty and Equality ; " and the thing at once 
penetrated the sanctuary of private life. Parents relaxed their 
authority, and children, of almost all ages, felt about as old as 
their parents, were quite as wise, and a litde more independent, 
and a great deal more rude. It was some time before these 
capital errors were discovered; and it will be much longer be- 
fore they are fully corrected. 

* * * 

A traveller on this interesting island, who passes through con- 
siderable districts of the country, or resides in any of the cities, 
and is a mian of observation, cannot fail to be struck with the 
superior temperance of the Spaniards. I refer to temperance 
in drinking, not particularly to abstemiousness in eating. Their 
dishes (I speak of the opulent) are almost without number, and 
prepared with luxurious condiments ; and seldom does a dish 
pass without a judgment upon its merits by the guests, on the 
evidence arising from examining the premises. The simple and 
nutritious fare of the Monteros is pork and plantain. 

England and America may find a noble example in Cuba of 
greater caution than they see at home in regard to ardent spirits, 
cordials, and inflaming wines. It is very rare to witness an 
example of intemperance in town or country, in Spaniard or 
white Creole, gentleman or peasant. Healths are drunk spar- 
ingly ; and toasts very seldom ; and the guest is civilly asked, 
but, I think, never pressed to drink, except by foreigners; and 
even by them, by the force of good example, they are seldom 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 167 

urged. Fruits and sweet meats in endless variety fill up more 
harmlessly those moments after dinner, which, in our own 
country, are often devoted to the history of a dozen of wine, its 
surprising longevity, its precise merits, and the drinking of it. 
One of the immediate consequences of this Spanish discretion 
is, a cheerful party without clamor, sprightly conversation with- 
out heat or dissention, and the pleasure of ladies' company to 
the close of the entertainment, — and fine health.^ 

The Montero is abroad with his wagon or string of mules, in 
the dews of the night, under tropical and meridian suns, envel- 
oped in clouds of dust, and exhausted with fatigue and sweat ; 
but with thanks often declines a glass of spirit to mix with his 
w^ater, when hospitably offered by his employer, giving the slight 
apology that " it is heating." A hardier, healthier, more mus- 
cular race of men camiot be found on the mountains of New 
Hampshire or Vermont. 

How different is the philosophy of many of the yeomanry of 
New England, so often appealed to as the virtuous progeny of 
the virtuous pilgrims. God forbid I should aiBx any stigma to 
them as a body. But how great is the number who pour down 
" the liquid fire of the "West Indies," because they are hot, or 
because they are cold — because they are about to encounter 
fatigue, or compose themselves to rest— because they are in 
company, and are ashamed not to be social, or are alone, and 
must cheer their solitude — or for any other reason, and for na 
reason at all, till their farms and heahh are gone, and their fam- 
ilies are in shame and beggary, or the care of the town. 

The subtle vice of drinking freely of ardent spirit crept over 
the community, as it does over an individual, in so insinuating 
and gradual a manner, that the danger was almost unsuspected 
till it was instant; and the chains of the habit were not felt be- 
fore they were riveted. The community is at length awake to 
the danger ; and aware of the difficulty of returning to the better 
customs of fortyfive years ago. Something has been done ; and 
much remains to be done. It may at least be said that the 



168 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

-commLinlty is no longer thoughtless on the subject ; the tempe- 
rate are anxious to remain so ; and are on their guard against 
those initiatory customs, which are the footpaths leading to the 
highway of drunkenness. The pulpit sends forth its awful 
warnings ; the press contributes its aid in tracts and paragraphs ; 
the laws, and magistrates, and municipal officers, do what they 
can; and, by the blessing of Heaven, it will be strange if in 
fortyfive years to come we shall not retrace our steps, and be 
not asliamed to stand compared even with the temperate in- 
habitants of Cuba. 



LETTER XLII. 

TO MISS E A 



Recompensa, St Marks, Aprii, 20th, 1838. 

Last evening amidst the usual sports of the twilight hour on 
the batey of the plantation, I could not help wishing that you 
were present to enjoy the scene, the natural fireworks of the 
country, as I may call the appearance and flight of the cucul- 
los. I had scarcely arrived in the island, before this splendid 
insect was mentioned by all my young acquaintances, in terms, 
as I thought, of enthusiasm and extravagance natural to their 
age. But 1 observed that the elder and more sedate were almost 
as unmeasured in the terms of their description. I remembered 
with what delight in my childhood I used to gaze on the mea- 
dow or lawn, in the summer, when the fireflies were plenty, 
and cheered the darkness of the evening by the sudden flash, 
and as sudden an extinguishment, of their ray of light, and I 
supposed the cucullos might be an exhibition a little more 
splendid. 

The season for them has come. One or two made their 
appearance the first evening, and were hailed like the first notes 
<of birds in the spring. A few more cheered the second 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 169 

evening ; and after the lapse of a week, and the fall of a heavy 
shower, they are innumerable. Their sportive hour commences 
with twilight. Out sallies the family, old and young, from the 
mansion to gaze. The cucullos dart in all directions, like so 
many brilliant stars or comets, over the tops of plantations 
and trees, now soaring and again descending; suddenly they 
wheel from one direction to another, pursuing and pursued, and 
playing their circles round each other, with a sort cf magical 
enchantment. It seems as if the stars had left their orbits, and 
were mingling in a mazy dance for the entertainment of the 
transported gazers. 

Our glow-worm and firefly are not to be mentioned widi the 
cucullos. The light which these give is not a flash, but steady, 
emitted through two large eyes, always visible except when 
they are flying from you, and it is light of uncommon whiteness 
and purity, not like the red glare of a lamp, not like the fiery 
radiance of Mars, but the soft beams of Venus, the morning 
and evening star. The swiftness and irregularity of their flight, 
the distance at which they can see and be seen, the diameter of 
the circle in which they are seen to attract each other, and the 
ardor with which they concentrate to a meeting, and whirl 
round a common centre, delight the spectator, and old and 
young are alive with pretty equal glee. 

The children often use a lamp as a decoy, and the distant 
cucullo is attracted and taken. One cucullo is exhibked to 
attract others, and hundreds fall into the snare and become pris- 
oners, and are kept in cages prepared for them, or in baskets 
covered with a cloth. They are apt to pine in confinement, 
and without great skill and care, they die. It is usual to feed 
them with cane and plantain ; and it is necessary carefully to 
bathe them in water, and dry them in the sun. They love 
the dews of evening, and showers of rain, and to bask in the 
sun ; and that management, which best combines the elements 
of their comfort, is most likely to preserve them alive. 

While the family is amused on the batey, the negroes are 



170 LETTERS FHOM CUBA. 

playing an active game in the avenues, and taking as many of 
these splendid captives as possible. The negro mothers use 
them as their nursing latnps. The Creoles are seen running 
about with them in their hands, and sometimes with a half 
dozen of them cruelly strung on a spire of grass. This inhu- 
manity to so beautiful an insect ought to be rebuked by their 
masters, but in many cases, it would be done with an ill grace, 
as young ladies, I am told, adorn their persons for evening 
assemblies with a string of cucullo brilliants, disposed on their 
necks or frocks wherever they may appear to the best advan- 
tage; willing, it should seem, to lose some of their moral 
charms, to display their persons in the greater lusture and to the 
better advantage. 

In apology for this feminine custom, it is said that there is a 
part of the cucullo, which can be pierced without suffering to 
the insect. The precise amount of its sufferings with this kind 
of usage, the insect has no tongue to explain. With the ten- 
derest treatment they expire by hundreds when in confinement. 
Out of three hundred attempted to be carried to the United 
States, by a careful acquaintance of mine, half a dozen only, 
survived the voyage. A distinguished Spaniard, whom I know, 
Vv^as more successful, and reached New York with fifty, and 
being something of a humorist, he gave them their liberty in 
Broad Street, in a fine evening for the purpose, and was suf- 
ficiently diverted by the astonishment of the citizens, and the 
eagerness of a thousand boys in pursuit of the sparkling fugi- 
tives. Your curiosity to see the cucullo is, I doubt not, suffi- 
ciently roused ; yet 1 know you too well to believe that you 
would desire the pleasure at the expense of the pining and 
death of nineteen in twenty in leaving their own balmy climate 

The cucullo is about an inch and a half long, and one fourth 
of an inch broad. It resembles the snapping bug of our coun- 
try, though a little longer. In the day time, it is sleepy, and 
gives but a faint light, of considerable brilliancy, however, when 
shaken. In the night they give light enough for the purposes 
of the nursery, and young eyes can see to read by them. 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 171 

As you are delighted with natural history, I will close my 
letter, with a few more hints on the same subject. It is quite 
remarkable that there is scarcely a poisonous creature on the 
island. Snakes are quite inoffensive, though many of them are 
of considerable size, and prey on poultry. One was killed a few 
evenings since, with four young turkeys in his belly, about the 
size of pullets, and on examining his bead, it seemed to me 
incredible that he should have swallowed them. His skin is 
beautifully checked and the lines strongly marked, but nothing 
of the brassy hue of the rattlesnake and mocassin. He is about 
seven feet long. Within a foot of the tail of this snake, were 
two small, sharp, honey toes, the object and use of v.'hich it 
seems difficult to conjecture. 

I have had a fine opportunity of seeing the chamelion, the 
poetic animal, pleasantly ce'ebraled in a fable you have often 
heard declaimed in our schools. I was the more interested by 
him because he was at liberty, and seen in his native spot and 
habits. He is of the lizard genus, but larger than any 1 have 
seen. He was on the ground, but darted like a red squirrel or 
ferret, the distance of a couple of rods to a tree, and ascended 
eight or ten feet. I sent for help to catch him, and in the 
meantime watched him, standing within a dozen feet of the 
tree. His body was on the trunk of the tree, near a rich foliage, 
and it was as green as a leek ; his long tail hung down where 
there was little shade, and it was brown, with faint spots, some- 
what resembling folds of changeable silk. Now and then he 
walked slowly up the tree, one foot at a time, and the colors 
were changed a few shades. I observed his form. His head 
was large for his body, and an epitome of that of the alligator. 
His eye was large like a squirrel's, but more sunk. He pre- 
sented a side view to me, and his profile was serrated, or bris- 
tled, from his head half way down his tail. 

A dextrous blow was given on his head, and he fell, and a 
negro secured his head in a noose of majagua. The poor fel- 
low for a long time refused to die ; and some hours afterward, 



172 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

when he had been in spirit thirty minutes, with his head down- 
ward, to my astonishment, he leaped out of the botde, and 
crawled on the floor. 

The lizards are very plenty everywhere, and amuse by their 
darting motion, and at times by their tameness or stupidity. 
Some of them roll their tail into a spiral, like a dog ; but gen- 
erally they are straight and flexible. They often visit me in 
my bed chamber ; and the little ones will perch on my glass, 
while I shave ; and if touched, will dart a foot, and wait for a 
second hint. 

The scorpion makes a figure on this island, but either has no 
poison about him, or it involves no danger. They are in con- 
siderable numbers ; an old one has been seen with more than 
a hundred young ones on her back. They are found in the 
field, under old houses, in thatched roofs, and occasionally in 
the best apartments of the house, and even in the neatest beds. 
A friend of mine blew out his lamp, and leaped into bed, when 
he was astounded by a thrust in the back which seemed to him 
the wound of a rusty nail. On examination, they found a scor- 
pion ill the bed, which they cut open, and spread upon the 
wound, and nothing of its virulence was to be seen in the morn- 
ing. 

A very obliging friend secured for me a living tarantula, and 
a living scorpion. They were too troublesome to be kept alive, 
and were put into a caper botfle to be preserved in spirit. In 
these close quarters, the spider of terrific size absolutely de- 
clined all encounter, and the scorpion, with a single dart of his 
sting, left him motionless and dead. The same friend has pre- 
sented me with a small snake preserved in spirit, which he dis- 
covered to be gifted with the curious faculty of running equally 
fast head foremost and tail foremost. 

It is confidently said by most residents, that there is not a 
poisonous creature on the island. Some, however, make an 
exception of the tarantula, and afiirm that there have been 
deaths from the bite of that ugliest of creeping things. I have 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 173 

been unable to ascertain any instance on sufficient testimony ; 
and am inclined to regard it as a wonderful instance of divine 
mercy to this tropical island. 

The tarantula has a fierce and inveterate enemy in a species 
of ichneumon, or Devil's-needle, which I have often seen as 
purple as the tarantula himself. The battle between this little 
winged dragon and the spider, has been often seen to last for 
twenty or thirty minutes. But in the winding up, the spider is 
generally a conquered enemy. 

Thus having called your attention to several interesting classes 
of animals in the island, I leave the subject to your considera- 
tion and reading. I am not informed by books on the subject, 
but wholly by observation and verbal report. 



LETTER XLIir. 

TO MRS E A 



St Marks, April 24th, 1828. 

With a young friend, and a servant, we started, just as the 
sun was rising, for the Mountains of San Salvador. The at- 
mosphere was clear, and the air balmy, and the sun not oppres- 
sive, and we arrived after mounting a number of swells, at the 
romantic estate of La Content, at the very foot of the principal 
spur, before eight o'clock. 

We passed between two extensive and beautiful coffee es- 
tates, belonging to Mr S. and the Baron Casa. The first men- 
tioned contains 750,000 coffee trees, and is surrounded by a 
double row of palm trees, and his coffee was almost as much 
shaded by forest trees, so far as 1 could see into his vast field, 
as coffee nurseries generally are ; and the Baron's was shaded 
by rows of wassemar. I was curious to judge of the effect of 
so much shade on the staple ; the coffee trees were remarka- 
bly healthy, equal, and well ramified, and this is soil said to be 



174 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

not the best. And of Mr S.'s coffee, I have been distinctly 
informed, that it is heavy, and bears the highesi price in the 
market ; and though he seldom makes a great crop, he sel- 
dom fails of a respectable and pretty equal one. 

Against the Baron's estate I observed a beautiful broad 
hedge of lime, out of the centre of which grew a row of alter- 
nating orange and pahn, producing the finest effects to the eye. 
We passed in sight of one very extensive sugar estate, and met 
a moiety of its oxen, which appeared like an eastern drove of 
fat caide going to Brighton. As we emerged from the forest, 
and rose on tiie hill, a sugar establishment, that of the Marquis 
of Ramos, was at once in full view. The first object that 
arrested attention, was a lofty and compact mass of cane, 
which sheltered a running brook, in the rainy season a river. 
We gazed for a few moments on the lively scene of two mules 
grinding, each with eight pair of oxen, the kettles disposing of 
the juice, and the driers completing the sugar for the box, on 
which were many hands with mauls reducing the snowy sugar 
to powder, and others with judgment separating the loaves into 
Havana white, and Havana brown, as the style is in our own 
country. 

We observed the bagossa in great quantity accumulated 
under two immense circular tiled roofs, and large heaps of 
wood also, near the boilers, to aid in the boiling. It appeared to 
me strange, that the bagossa alone on the estate of Don Perez 
Uria, was sufficient to carry the steam mill, and to boil the su- 
gar, and no wood whatever was consumed in either operation, 
and that on this fine estate the cane is not sufficient to boil the 
sugar while the cane is ground by oxen. There must be some 
principles of economy in the one case, worth inquiring after in 
the other, especially as wood is more scarce in this part of the 
island. 

This neighborhood seems to have suffered much by the want 
of showers ; which led me to observe with the deeper interest 
the kind provision, which Providence, benign to all, and not un» 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 176 

mindful of those minute members of its great family, birds and 
insects, and the smaller animals, has made to satisfiy their 
thirst. Almost all the large trees are set with vegetable cisterns, 
to catch and hold the rain and dew. The leaves of these vild 
pines, which fasten themselves to the body and large limbs of 
forest trees, are stiff and semicircular, or like an eaves-gutter, 
and all the drops, which fall on them, are conveyed to the cup 
in the centre, within which 1 have measured eight inches deep 
of water, in a dry time. As thousands of these may be seen at 
once around you, in any part of the forest, the quantity of water 
in these liule cisterns is an ample supply for the tribes, for whom 
it is provided. 

How these plants, which are substances foreign tq the tree, 
should become fixtures in their lofty situations, is matter of sur- 
prise. Like the thistle, they have winged seeds, which attach 
themselves to the living soil, and grow. They incline to fix on 
the horizontal boughs of the mighty ceyba, and I doubt not a 
single tree of this kind sustains barrels of water. A friend of 
mine was invited to see one of these trees felled, and six 
iiteas, (animals of the size of a woodchuck,) were seen spring- 
ing from the fallen tree. There is ordinarily to be seen on the 
white smooth bark of the ceyba, the covered path of the coma- 
jen, which is nothing more than a turnpike, which they form for 
going to water ; their large black nests are to be seen in humbler 
situations on trees. 



LETTER XLIV. 

TO MRS E A : 

April 25th, 1S2S. 



We rose at daybreak, and, with a cup of hot coffee, were on 
horseback before sun-rising, and commenced the ascent of the 
mountain, which overhangs the sheltered and romantic batey of 



176 LETTERS FROii CUBA^ 

Mr A. This gentleman rents and owns the land to the very 
crest of the mountain. The first ascent was bold ; but there 
was a well made road, and charmingly sheltered by a pinon 
hedge ; it took a second bold turn or traverse, and was still 
sheltered by bushy pinon. This precipitous angle was all in a 
state of cultivation ; beans were luxuriant, and yams were plant- 
ed ; and sufficient soil mixed with loose stones to promise am- 
ple crops. We rose rapidly into a high region of the mountain, 
and passed through the canucos, the gardens of the negroes of 
the plantation. They were set with tobacco, where we passed ^; 
but the attendant pointed to other swells, which also were ne- 
gro lands, where they raise corn, rice, and yams. Their allow- 
ance of land on this estate seems very ample, and in good cul- 
tivation. 

As we left the canucos, we sent back tiie horses, and entered' 
the forest in a good foot-path, no otherwise difficult than as it 
was very precipitous and stony. We at length emerged from 
the thick and thrifty forest, near the height of the loftiest spur 
but one, and were not a litde surprised to find ourselves in a 
beautiful coffee estate. When we first passed this plantation, the 
morning vapors hung on the smaller hills and valleys below 
US) and reduced the whole to a sea of white vapor. 

We continued to rise, and we turned from the coffee field, 
and at length surmounted the highest crest but one. From 
this elevation we descended into the seat of the Saddle, as the 
space between the tvv'O spurs is called, the spurs themselves 
making the pommel and the rearguard. We were soon on the 
highest mountain in San Salvador. 

To our great mortification we were in this interesting spot 
completely enclosed by a towering forest. So thick were the 
trees on every side that we in vain sought a vista, through 
which we could look down on the elevated settlement we had 
this morning left, and every building of which should have been 
perfectly in view. In vain we sought even an opening from which 
we might distinctly see the water and Isle of Pines at the souths 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 177 

and the port of Mariel, and the Gulf stream at the north. All 
this glorious panorama of seas and lands, of plains and moun- 
tain, was screened from us by a thick mat of trees and bajuca. 
Some friendly hand had cleared a small circle of two or three 
yards in diameter on the crest of the hill ; and very possibly to 
this small circumstance the spur owes its name of Taboureta, 
or the Chair. 

We thought little of the repose, to which the slight prepara- 
tion and lounging name might invite us. Our object was to 
obtain a view from this natural observatory, the centre of so 
many magnificent objects. We looked about for a tree, which 
we might climb, and overlook the scene. But though there 
were many that ran up their tops like masts, and some of them 
iwere hung with bajuco like their cordage, there were none of 
these natural shrouds so worthy of confidence, that mere lands- 
men would risk their necks upon them at a sufficient height to 
obtain the prospect. 

We endeaV'Ored to content ourselves for a few moments, with 
observing the striking difference, as to their soil and products, 
between these and the other mountains of the island, which we 
have ascended. The soil on these mountains is of that rich 
black complexiouj which is selected for a sugar plantation ; 
some of its swells, however, are red. The Saddle, that is, the 
two spurs and the fine ridge between them, is the best of soil, 
capable of being made into a fine garden of one or two cava- 
lieros extent ; and at this elevation, is reputed to be 2000 feet 
high. I had no instruments to measure it, but think it much 
less. Not only tropical fruits, but very possibly many of the 
delicious fruits of the temperate zone might be found to flourish 
on this spot. The present growth upon it is demonstration of 
the strength of the soil. The trees are too thick to be very 
large, and many of the largest have also bee.i cut for timber 
needed for building in the cultivated neighborhood of the moun- 
tain. But they run high, and many of them if spared will grow 
large. The best woods are found here, — the arcana in great 
23 



178 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

plenty, guajani, juciima, fregorica, acujas, jaiva or lance wood, 
a few fine mahogany trees, and cedar, and other ornamental 
woods. We passed a mahogany stump three feet in diameter, 
and though cut before the memory of our negro guide, after 
shaving from it an inch of rotten wood with hisrnachet, he cut 
into a rich fine grain, almost as hard as the quiebra-hacha. 
Almost the whole mountain, except where it is too precipitous 
for a laborer to stand, is capable of cultivation. Very different 
are the highest mountains of Arcana to the windward, and of 
the ridge of Camiraoca as it appears to the eye, while passing 
through the long range of barren savanna at its feet. The little 
palm, the stunted pahr^etto, and a few bushes, is the most of 
what they produce. 

On descending to the coffee estate before mentioned, the sea 
of fog had been evaporated by the rising sun, and a most lovely 
prospect lay open before us. We were still at a great eleva- 
tion, perhaps two hundred feet only below the crest. Thence 
we looked down upon eight or ten coffee estates, on mountains 
and valleys less elevated. The peaks ran up of various heights, 
often cultivated to the very summit. The hills were sometimes 
extended on a long level like the roof of a house, and top and 
sides covered with coffee and plantain. Sometimes they pre- 
sented a naked and sterile appearance ; and this was almost 
always the case, where the soil was not bound to its native spot 
by being imbedded in stones. Such spots, as the eye wandered 
over the diversified prospect, were readily recognised as con- 
stituting the estates formed by the French emigrants from St 
Domingo, which the floods from the higher grounds had stripped 
of soil, leaving the coffee to perish. 

But where the slopes were stony, the soil was mostly pre- 
served, and the coffee estate in fine order. Though the estate 
on the upper edge of which we were standing, stretched itself 
down the steep side of the mountain, it was evidently in high 
health. The trees had not been suffered to run high, but the 
layers of branches from the top to within about a span of the 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 179 

ground were thick and regular, and already bending with a 
heavy promise of a crop. We understood from our intelligent 
guide that the yielding even last year was good ; and we could 
venture to say if the whole field should this year fuliil the pro- 
mise of that part which \V8 examined, that not a field in the 
plain will bear from it the palm of quantity or quality. 

It seems probable, if we attempt to account for the thriftiness 
of this mountain plantation, that the roots find a deep soil in the 
mountain, and are cooled and moistened by its abounding with 
loose and flat stones, so that it bore the heat and drought of 
the last season even better than the plain itself. The judicious 
manager of this estate has inserted palms innumerable over his 
field, which will further serve to screen the coffee from the in- 
tense heat of the sun, on the inclined plane, which his trees oc- 
cupy. 

In the distance we could discover a considerable number of 
sugar estates, among the most extensive of which were those 
of the Marquis of Ramus, and Don Francisco Pedroso; and large 
fields of cane were still standing upon them, which their dih'gent 
catde and slaves had not as yet been able to convert to a crop. 

A bajuca turned tree, is always to me a very amusing sight ; 
and we stopped a moment to take the distance between the 
constituent parts of the awkward thing that had a lusty top of 
five or six limbs, from a foot to two feet in diameter. There 
were five sections which constituted the trunk, and between the 
two principal, there was the space measured at the ground of 
thirtyone and a half feet. The original tree had been long 
dead and buried. 

The servants met us with the horses as we v/ere descending, 
and we arrived without excessive fatigue, with a fine appetite, 
after an absence of three delightful hours. In the afternoon of 
the same day we left our aged and respectable friends at La 
Content. As they had no servant on the estate, who could be 
relied on as a guide in our route among mountains unknown 
among us. our friend solicited a calesero of the Marquis of 
Ramus, familiar with the intricacies of the way, and at four 



ISO LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

o'clock we set out for the Santa Susana, in the partido of Cal- 
lejabos, a distance of four long leagues. 

Our course was continually among mountains, much of the 
way in a volante road, and sometimes in a footpath cut into the 
side of a hill, whose slope was but a few degrees removed from 
a perpendicular line, and we shrunk at the sight of the gorge 
200 and 300 feet below us. Fine coffee estates were often 
seen running to the tops of the mountain, and sometimes old 
establishments were abandoned, or converted to portreros. A 
new species of soil was discovered on some of the swells, of a 
chalky appearance, or red soil mixed with clay, called coco. 
These were very sterile ; destitute of coffee, or with a few 
plants here and there, famished and perishing. In the first part 
of the ride we passed through two sugar estates, belonging to 
the Marquis of Ramus ; but the cane was much shorter and 
smaller than on several estates in the Sumidero, probably owing 
to the exhaustion of the soil by long culture. 

The mountain scenery was as wild as any section of the Blue 
Ridge in Virginia, excepting the peaks of Otter, and the Natural 
Bridge. We crossed the same river perhaps a dozen times, in 
going a few miles, — a tinkling brook in the season of drought, 
but a roaring, foaming torrent in the rainy season ; and at spots 
this is its character most of the year. 

The evening closed over us before we reached the Santa 
Susana, so that we had but an imperfect view of spots, which 
were so enchanting that we resolved to return for a daylight 
view of them. The cucullos, however, seemed determined to 
compensate us for our disappointment, and in numbers almost 
innumerable, these sylphs of the evening, in robes of light, were 
flitting from hill to hill ; and as we looked up from the deep 
valley into the purest sky, we might have been at a loss to de- 
termine which were stars, and which the insect comets, except 
by their rapid motion. As vespers were ringing, and the grate- 
ful sound was echoing among the valleys, we arrived at the 
Santa Susana, and were received by strangers, as if we had 
been old and expected friends. 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 181 

LETTER XLV. 

TO MRS E^ — A . 

Santa Susana, April 25th, 1828. 
The young gentlemen of this estate, (recently returned 
from the University of C, with filial respect for their Alma 
Mater,) had many pleasant plans for the entertainment and in- 
formation of a New England stranger. In the cool of the 
morning, we were on horseback to review the hermitage, which 
we had passed by moonlight, and to ascend to the position of 
what is reputed the highest coffee estate on the island. We 
descended from the mansion which stands on a beautiful hill, 
and crossed a neat bridge resting on two or three piers, with a 
lively hrook now passing the declivity, which is often swelled to 
the very planks, by a sudden shower, pouring from a hundred 
gorges into this common race-way. Near this bridge is a half 
acre of siccaderos, here, adopting the term from the French, 
called glaciers, or, from the English, barhecues. It will serve 
to show the suddenness and nature of a mountain shower, to 
mention, that a careless manager of the estate, in an evening 
without clouds, went to bed neglecting the usual precautions ; 
and in the morning it was found that a thousand arobes of coffee 
had been swept from the barbecues by a shower in the night, 
the flood rushing over them. 

Passing the bridge, we entered on a beautiful road cut at 
great labor into the stone ribs of the precipitous mountain, the 
right hand being a natural and sometimes an artificial wall, and 
the left guarded from the precipice by a broad, winding, well- 
shorn lime hedge. 

Leaving the Santa Susana, we entered on a plantation of a 
very different aspect, as the manager neglects his coffee, and is 
rearing on a large scale, and educating game-cocks for the pit. 
In other hands equally skillful, this might be a very profitable 
branch of business, since the demand for combatants who have 



182 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

been drilled to the various modes of fighting is very great 
throughout the province. But this gentleman trains them only 
for his own use. He has an even hundred in training on this 
estate, and something like a hundred on another. We passed 
rapidly round to look at the imprisoned duellists. Each had a 
commodious cell to himself. In general their combs are pared 
off close to the head ; the proud rufF of feathers naturally round 
their neck was also shorn, and the feathers on the back of the 
bird, and the tail were cropped to two or three inches. The 
object of this mutilation is to prevent his adversary siezing him 
by the feathers, and shaking him like a dog. The parts thus 
laid bare both behind and before are constantly chafed with 
arguadiente, so that they are as red as his comb. Of some of 
them, the spurs were sharpened to a needle's point. Several 
of them had but one eye, the other having been lost in the pit. 
One of vast size was pointed out to us, with very blunt spurs. 
I was astonished to learn that this bird is trained to fight with 
a razor. The instrument is constructed of the keenest steel in 
the English manufactories ; the blade is brought to a point, and 
the edge is as sharp as a barber's razor. It is formed with a 
hollow in the end, into which the spur of the bird is inserted 
and secured with a strap. Thus accoutred, the first spring 
and stroke, we were informed, is commonly decisive, and some- 
times both fall dead together. In another row of cells we saw 
a tremendous fellow, who had within a week successililly 
fought his batde, and brought to his m.aster twentyeight ounces 
with the loss only of one eye. 

The principal building on this estate is in the condition of the 
house formerly beetling on Beacon hill in Boston, and seems 
in a fair way of coming to the same fate. The last season 
a large fragment of the dryer was precipitated almost perpen- 
dicularly into the valley below. 

At length we reached the charming valley occupied by the 
Hermitage. There is nothing more romantic in fairy land. 
You pass between lime hedges, and under shades of the mango 



I 



LETTERS FROM CUBA* 183 

tree, the almond tree, the beautiful bread tree, and palms, some 
of which are a hundred and ten or twenty feet high, and these 
not half the height of the wall of mountain which encloses a 
valley containing five or six acres. The batey is near the 
centre of the valley. There, on one side, stands a neat and 
tasteful house, darkened by the shade of fruit trees; and there 
the boheas, and the range of barbecues ; and at the foot of the 
whole rushes by a considerable mountain river, just as it has 
tumbled down a precipice of one or two hundred feet. The 
plantation of coffee and plantain seems suspended around you 
from the bold wall of mountain just mentioned, like the gardens 
of ancient Babylon. On the tops of these lofty hills is a hedge 
of dwarf mangoes, which resemble the elegant sour orange cut 
into a globular form, so often employed to adorn principal 
avenues in the low country. The whole litde scene is luxuriant 
and fruitful, from the centre of the valley to the top of the al- 
most circular mountain. 

As we passed up the narrow path overlooking the gorge, 
which confines the precipitous course of the river, we observed 
the force of the torrent, leaping from knob to knob, dashing be- 
fore it ev^erything but the solid rocks, which were converted 
to a chalky whiteness. But at this time a long drought having 
prevailed, the diminished current swept over the rocks with only 
a gentle murmur. 

Without serious difficulty, dismounting a few times, we at 
length reached the batey of the Buena Vista. The name is 
strictly graphic of the charming spot. From this great height 
we looked north, and through a regular opening of mountains 
all the way, we could see distinctly to the port of Cardenas, 
and the neighborhood of Mariel ; and in a clear day, I was 
told, even the fishing boats could be seen on the water. The 
distance is estimated at three leagues. We turned and looked 
southeast, to the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, and the Isle of 
Pines, which was easily distinguishable. 

Looking directly south, we could see a very fine cojSee estate 



184 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

running up the north side of the saddle of Taboureta. If we 
had known the fact yesterday, we might, by making our way 
but a few rods down from the highest elevation we attained, 
have stood on the upper edge of this coffee field. Thus we 
could perceive that the rich soil we saw on the Taboureta is not 
confined to the summit, but extends far into the valley. My 
surprise is very great, the longer I am among the mountains, to 
find how exuberant they generally are in their natural and cul- 
tivated products. It is pretty evident, that the refugees from 
St Domingo were not without sagacity in selecting their ground. 
The soil was indeed rich, with the exception of some spots of 
coco ; and though it is liable, where it is not very stony, to be 
gradually washed away, trees whh care will flourish for twenty or 
thirty years, and yield a cofiee in higher dernand in the market 
than any other. The provident planter, however, has taken 
care to secure to himself more land than he wishes at once to 
occupy, and every year a crest of hill is reduced from a forest 
state, to plantation, so that while spots in very unfavorable situ- 
ations become sterile, other new and very fruitful ones are 
coming on, to preserve complete the full number of fruitful trees. 
We returned in early season to breakfast with the family at 
Santa Susana. 



LETTER XLVI. 

TO MRS E A 



Santa Sitsana, April 27th, 1828. 
A LITTLE after daybreak, with Messrs L and H. D'W., I 
ascended from Santa Susana to the top of Monte Pelado, (the 
Shorn Mountain.) We rode three fourths of the whole height 
on horses, without once dismounting, in the foot alley among 
coffee. The path continually angles like a ship with an almost 
head wind, and turns to all points of the compass — it is cut into 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 1S5 

the hill — coffee trees hang above yon, and now and then a 
vigorous one almost elbows the horse over the precipice. Some 
of the coffee ground is so nearly perpendicular that the negro 
may with propriety say as does the sailor when rocking aloft — 
" one hand for my master, and one for myself." 

I was struck with the fact that these mountain plantations are 
well watered, in the midst of drought. Several living springs 
issue, at which the laboring negro may drink luxuriously of 
limpid water ; and every large gorge between hills has its brook, 
W'hich a half hour of mountain rain would cause to roar like a 
river. We arrived at a forest at about 650 feet above the garden, 
into which, at this position, a muscular arm might throw a stone, 
and here left the horses in care of a negro, and completed the 
ascent, 214 feet, on foot, and stood on a bald cone, with a breeze 
so brisk that 1 borrowed an additional coat of a servant to be 
warm. 

We here stood, not on a conjectural, but accurately measured 
height, 1320 1-2 feet above the level of the sea, and not less 
than a hundred below Taboureta, in full view, one league and 
a half distant. There is a difference of opinion as to heights, 
however. 

There was here an open horizon without an object to inter- 
cept our view, except the Saddle, and the ranges of distant 
mountains. The Cusco, S. W., of similar height with those of 
San Salvador. North, lay a ridge of mountains called Rubi, 
back of Santa Susana. This estate has 628 acres of land, — 
parts occupied twenty years, yielding little — new spots set with 
trees, — spots twenty years old decayed — ten, doing well — difK- 
cult to repair — there is a method by restoring to forests, but 
some spots on the Cusco are so washed of soil, that trees v\'ill 
scarcely take hold. 

A little below Monte Pelado, in the forest, we discovered a 
wild pine with a beautiful red flower, on a large tree. Wishing 
to ascertain the manner in which this interesting parasite is pro- 
pagated, we sent up a negro to bring down the plant. It has a 
24 



1S6 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

beautiful leaf, which 1 have before described to you, edged with 
very small thorns. They serve to convey water to the centre, 
which is a cupan and a half broad at bottom, and four at top, 
twelve inches deep, and containing according to an experiment 
made at the house, two quarts of water before it would leak 
over. It is evident this parasite is propagated by winged seeds, 
which the breeze flutters in the air like the thistle. 



LETTER XLVII. 

MRS A E G- 



Santa Susaha, April 30th, 1828. 

I HAVE been as busy as a beehive these eight or ten days, in 
these delightful mountains ; and I have thought of you almost 
continually. You have just enthusiasm enough to gaze upon 
these cloud-capt hills, and down on these awful precipices, and 
to hang by a doubtful hold over some delightful abyss, and look 
and shudder, and shudder and look, uncertain whether is greater, 
the terror or the delight. Tomorrow at daybreak I descend to 
the level of common life, in the plain ; but I cannot feel easy 
to leave the spot without a hasty letter to a child of nature, who 
always loved to thread her mazy walks, strewed witli flowers, 
to explore her beaches to gather variegated and beautiful shells, 
and arrange them in glittering orders, and to enter the dark 
forest, and to mount the highest hills, and to step across the 
chasm, here and there found in our dear New England, from 
which less ardent companions timidly started back. 

The delightful spot where 1 am commencing my fifth day, is 
the residence of Madame S. J., whose sons were classmates 
with our young friends R. and P. It is diflicult to say whether 
the family are most amiable or most accomplished. There are 
here two sons and two daughters, the youngest ten, and all 
speak three languages, so far as I can judge, with about equal 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 187 

facility. The mother has unusual powers of conversation. 
She was a lady of S. C, and has made this her principal resi- 
dence more than twenty years ; and her information is much to 
be relied upon, abundant and interesting. 

The day after our arrival, (a son of was the com- 
panion of my journey, and a calesero of the Marquis of Ramus, 
our guide through the passes of the mountains,) two volantes 
brought three children of the Marquis, and their governess, an 
accomplished French lady, to pass the day. The young ladies 
at twenty and twelve speak the three languages ; the youngest, 
who is very clever, speaks handsomely. Their instructress 
finds them constant employment, and the fruit of her care and 
instruction is evident in their manners and conversation. But I 
forbear — you may have observed in my correspondence this 
winter that I am much less personal than during my former ab- 
sence ; it is from the conviction, that, even where it is favorable 
to the individual concerned, ingenuous minds do not like to ap- 
pear too much in detail in letters. A hundred anecdotes may 
be very proper in fugitive and evanescent conversation, which 
are questionable, put down in indelible ink. 

Last night I slept soundly, and awoke aiihe snap of the whip. 
Do not be alarmed ; it was merely the signal for the negroes' 
rising, used here instead of a bell ; for other purposes the whip 
is very little used on this estate. I was soon abroad to look 
into a morning sky among the mountains, full of stars as brilliant 
as Venus. We are at a mansion, 456 feet above the level of 
the neighboring sea ; of course are so much elevated out of the 
grosser atmosphere, that the skies have a purity and brightness 
very different from the champaigne of St Marks. 

I found the business of the plantation was going on, while I 
could scarcely discern the first streaks of day on the mountains. 
A long row of negroes with each a basket on his head, was 
passing at the foot of the hills, like an army of bibiaguas on a 
nocturnal expedition. I perceived too that wagons were load- 
ing at the glaciers or driers, with coffee, and wishing to see the 



188 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

hardy Monteros, I repaired to the spot. The father, a stout 
man whose frame woold do honor to a yeoman on the hills of 
New Hampshire, was standing in his great coat, to see that, all 
was right. The son received the bags of coffee, as negroes 
brought them, and disposed them in his cart, guarded on every 
side, from the possibility of being wet with rain, by hides. The 
negroes came with each a bag of coffee on his head, weighing 
100 lbs. and stood patiently under his burden till his turn came 
to be relieved. These Monteros interest me more and more. 
How hardy they are you may learn from the fact that three of 
them slept on a plastered pavement, one of the coffee driers, 
each in his shirt and trousers, the canopy of heaven only for his 
covering, bathed through the night with dew. 

At half an hour before sun rising, four of us were mounted^ 
and I commenced my fourth ascent of the mountains. The 
direction was farther east, and our various positions presented 
charming views of the batey, of the mountain turnpike of this 
estate, of various flourishing swells of coffee, and vales of plan- 
tain, and alleys of Guinea-grass. I often shrunk from the pre- 
cipice over which 1 was hanging, towards the upward side, 
especially as my more judicious horse inclined to walk on the 
downward edge, lest a plantain or coffee tree on the other side 
should urge him over. 

Our object was to visit the romantic estate of Mr Marcos 
Pitoletto, an Italian, who has a waterfall of 150 feet, and a cacao 
estsle commenced among his coffee, which, I think, promises 
him wealth, as he is the first who has commenced the interest- 
ing culture on the island, to any extent, (whh the exception 
hereafter mentioned.) I visited his cascade at the point where 
it makes its leap. A slight bank of one foot thickness detains 
the water for a bath, covered with palm leaves. In this bagnio 
of cold spring water you may sport, and might leap over the 
dam, and go down with the water a deeper plunge than the 
falls of Niagara. We thence descended into the valley, to see 
where the water dashes among the rocks. The proprietor calls 
the cascade, the Young Niagara. « 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 189 

The principal object of my visit was to see the cacao planta- 
tion. He has 20,000 trees in a flourishing condition, from two 
to eight years old. They are inserted among his coffee, and 
may serve the purpose of shade to that tender plant, and afford 
a rich crop in itself. The oldest trees are five or six inches in 
diameter, at the stem ; and ramify regularly, and he allows only 
two strata of limbs to form the tree. They will become large 
trees, and live probably a hundred years. Mr P., who has 
been thirty years in the island, saw trees near Havana, brought 
to this country by the Marquis of Bianca, (or Beytia) and 
planted on his estate, which were about the age above men- 
tioned, and were larger than the aguacati tree, large as our 
largest pears. This gentleman has proceeded cautiously in 
forming his. cacao plantation, beginning with a few trees. He 
presented some of his cacao made into chocolate, to the Con- 
sulado, and it was found equal to the best from foreign parts ; 
and he was offered two dollars more per quintal, on account of 
the superior freshness and richness it possesses, which makes it 
very suitable to be mixed with the foreign, which is dry. He 
informed us that in San Juan de los Remedies, much cacao is 
made for market. This beautiful tree, with large fair leaves, 
and flowers, which are small and white, and fruit which is five 
or six inches long, and eight or ten inches in circumference, 
both growing directly out of the body and limbs of the tree, 
grows equally well at the top of the mountain, and in the valley. 
It loves a northern aspect, and cool situations ; requires no ma- 
nuring ; but will not grow on exhausted soil ; yet most of his 
cacao is set in coffee fields twenty years old. But I forget I 
am not writing to an agriculturist. 

You will not expect me to detail my other three ascents, as 
I have preserved them for you in MSS., nor to relate where I 
have been, and the hospitality and courtesy with which I am 
everywhere greeted. The time is now near, 1 humbly hope, 
through the great goodness of God my Preserver, when I shall 
embark for my ever dear country, and the spot in that country 



190 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

most of all endeared to my heart by the affectionate friends who, 
I know, will soon stand on tiptoe and expand their arms to re- 
ceive me. These mountains have done more for me than the 
plains. Three weeks I was too near the wet savanna skirting 
the South Sea, or Gulf of Mexico. St Marks did much to 
restore me from an ill turn which might, I think, have been a 
fever, if I had remained longer in that low neighborhood. But 
there is wonderful life in this mountain air. Let invahds that 
come to this fine island always seek its high grounds. It is 
almost sufficient to raise the hectic sufferer to tone and health. 
This dear family have made me perfectly at hom^e, and de- 
sired me to stay as long as I can. It is quite possible, if I cannot 
find a passage to Boston or Bristol, I shall embark with this 
family in two weeks for New York. They spend six months 
or a year on the continent. It is uncertain where, — and it is 
possible, I hope certain, that we shall have the pleasure to see 
them in B. Be fissured, I am much improved in health, and 
shall hope to be able to labor in my vineyard at my return. 
Love to your dear mother, to whom she must consider this 
letter indirectly addressed, and love to my treasures, as Madame 
I. justly calls her children — and love to my neighbors, and flock 
— no compliments to any body. 



LETTER XLVIII. 

TO MRS E A 



Recompensa, May 1st, 1828. 
We left the mountains, and the society and hospitality we 
found there, with regret, and returned into the plain of St 
Mark's. The road was fine, even for a volante, down the hills ; 
and near the foot of them we crosssd tlie principal river, which, 
I conjecture from its direction, must enter the bay of Mariel. 
There was considerable water, even in this dry time, in the 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 191 

channel, and a plenty of small fish, which might amuse, perhaps 
reward, the angler. In the valley and on the diminished swells 
we found fine black soil, some tobacco and several sugar 
estates, one of them very large. 

We entered a pretty village, with a large church in good 

repair, the late scene of Father 's labors, whose name 

is as fragrance in the mountains, and in the plains. The gen- 
eral character of the clergy of this country is reprobated by its 
population generally, without much difference in the degree of 
severity, on account of national or religious prejudices, or par- 
tialities. Whatever may be the moral character of the people 
of Cuba, they acknowledge the sacredness of the clerical office, 
and that those who sustain it should be as spotless as ermine. 
They are mortified and often indignant, where this is not the 
case ; they regard it with veneration and enthusiastic affection 
ivhere they see that it is. Two anecdotes of recent date, and 

both unquestionably true, will illustrate the fact. Father , 

who shall be nameless lest some officious reader who under- 
stands both languages should shock his modesty by translating 
the passage, (he does not understand a word of English,) was 
very sick. The news flew, and the deepest solicitude was uni- 
versal. Some contributed every comfortable thing he could 
possibly want, and some watched by him day and night. But 
the circumstance most affecting was to see the humble Mon- 
teros of his flock hovering about his dwelling, and when the 
physicians came out, proffering their hard earned money to pay 
the fees, which, however, was refused. 

Not far from this touching scene lived another Father of a 
very different character. Such were his vices, his abuse of 
office, and of confidence, and such his gallantries, that the 
strongest passions in the human breast were roused against him ; 
and in the most public situation, as he was gaily stepping into 
the ball-room, a stroke from a dagger sent him to his great ac- 
count. The assassin was known to the public audiorities, but 
has not been punished. 



192 . LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

Whatever other reflections may rise out of these anecdotes 
one thing seems perfectly plain, that even in Cuba there is high 
respect for the clerical character, when sustained in its purity, 
and indignant feeling when the sacred lawn is defiled. Every 
friend of the island will devoutly hope and pray, that this hon- 
orable feeling rrjay be stronger and stronger, till the priesthood 
shall be purged of the openly vicious, and religion shall be re- 
vered in the holy lives of those who sustain its offices. When 
the example of all the ministers of religion shall be what that of 
some is, there will be less complaint of infidelity, and irreligion. 
Let the tonsure never be seen in the cockpit, nor at the gam- 
ing table, and the regular and secular clergy, like Caesar's wife, 
not only be pure, but unsuspected, and that influence which 
they fear and complain is lost, will return to them ; and in all 
the important events and high destinies before the island, they 
will be cherished and revered. 

A part of this morning's ride reminded me of the beautiful 
hills and valleys of Heruco and Guanamacoa, adorned with 
innumerable palms. We were delighted with the gay plumage 
and fine notes of numerous birds. We passed many sitios 
and portreros, and were diverted with the ingenuity of several 
porters, who lay at their ease in their lodges, and opened and 
shut the gates without leaving their recumbent posture. As 
the porters are very grateful for a bit or a half bit, and com- 
monly obtain it from the strangers they oblige, it is probable 
enough that they are lame or infirm through age, and perhaps 
incapable of rising. We passed through much soil good for 
sugar and cofl^ee, and one sugar estate on red soil. We passed 
in sight, we supposed, of Cabanas, and saw the hills of Guana- 
joy *, and looked back with mingled sensations of pleasure and 
regret on the mountains of San Salvador, and after seventeen 
miles travel arrived at the Recorapensa to breakfast. 



Lt:TfERS FROM CUBA. 19S 

LETTER XLIX. 

TO MRS E A . 



Hacienda of St Marks, May 3d, 1823. 

Thinking I had an hour for writing, before the messenger 
was to start for Havrma. I was cooll}' sitting down to give you 
an ample sheet, with hneresting matter enough to fill a dozen, 
when suddenly I leu-n he goes in ten minutes. I hasten to say 
that yesterday we descended from the mountains, where I had 
been six days, the most conducive to health I have passed on 
the island. I am quite another thing from what I was when I 
wrote from the Reserva. 1 eat, sleep, exercise, write, think, in- 
quire, amass matters of great interest, and have infinite occa- 
sion of gratitude to God for all his mercies. Truly I do now 
hope through his mercy soon to be with you, in good health 
and fine spirits. I shall keep in the country till almost the last 
hour before embarking, that I may run no risk from the city or 
bay. Every body here thinks that there can be no manner of 
danger in taking ship from that port. 

There is the finest Lice-factory in the mountains of San Sal- 
vador, from which I shall bring home a few specimens. Do 
you not think they are quite young to commence business of 
this sort? I send you a very small specimen in the letter, cut 
from a wide piece ; more might occasion, thin as it is, a double 
postage. It seems a curious mode of weaving, but the threads 
are amazingly strong in the piece. A marquis of the island 
presented the king with a set of shirts frilled with it. 



LETTER L. 

TO MRS E A- 



La Recompensa, St Marks, Mat 4th, 1828. 
Yesterday, with three or four minutes warning, 1 gave you 
a note, very short, but sufficient to apprize you where I am, 

25 



194 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 



and how I am, and of my hopes and intentions for a fortnight to 
come. By a private mail I hope to send to the city tomorrow, 
and though it is late in the day, as I have given many of its hours 
to thought on important subjects, I shall indulge myself in an 
easy conversation letter to one who always listens to me with 
affectionate interest, especially when far away I address her with 
my pen. 

This family, Dr M.'s, in which I have spent, I think, a fort- 
night or more, and shall probably remain a week longer, and 
should be welcome as long as 1 pleased, is a very delightful one. 
The Doctor is probably the most successful physician in the coun- 
try, making a fortune rapidly, and held by all persons in high 
respect. He is exceedingly well informed, and judicious, and 
possesses colloquial powers. We have the pleasure to be well 
agreed on a great many subjects of importance, and have a 
great deal of comfort in my study together, whenever his press 
of business will permit. Mrs M. v^^as the daughter of Col. T. 
the friend of Lafayette and Washington — speaking three lan- 
guages with facility, as do her young children and their father. 

Yesterday I was peculiarly fortunate in arriving from the 
mountains to breakfast, as the Doctor and lady had agreed to 
stand god-father and god-mother to a Spanish child, on a neigh- 
boring estate. They were delighted that I arrived in season for 
the baptism, which was to take place at noon. Seven of us from 
thfs family passed over in the volante. A considerable collection 

of well dressed people were present. Father and clerk, 

or sacristan were there ; and his dress for the occasion was 
contained in a portmanteau. 

Father is the admiration of this part of the country, 

as a very correct and amiable man ; a character by the way, a 
good deal rare among the clergy of this island. He was in the 
church of Callejabos near the mountains, where I have been, 
and his name there is as fragrant oil poured forth. When 
he was sick, his house was beset by his parishioners to offer 
services, and the Monteros were seen offering fees to the physi- 
cians, as they left his apartment. Thence he has recently 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 195 

been transferred to the parish of Atemisa, in the Partido of St 
Marks, and be is received with acclamation. 

Father robed himself in a black cassock ; and over 

this he put a short muslin gown, with some nice needlework 
about it, or lace ; and over this again he put a narrow mantle 
of brocade, trimmed with gold lace ; — and stood by the font. 
The infant boy vvas presented by the god-parents ; and, writing 
to a lady, she will wish to know how he was habited. Its 
tinder dress was of white satin. Over this was a robe of hohi- 
net lace, trimmed with French lace, and ornamented with white 
artificial flowers. His cap W'as of the same fabric. 

The service commenced with a short prayer in Latin. The 
god-parents then were required to repeat the Lord's prayer and 
creed in Spanish. The priest proceeded to make on the breast 
of the child, calling its name, Amelio, the sign of the cross, 
slightly blowing upon it, I suppose in token of conferring the Holy 
Ghost. He next put salt in his mouth, and anointed the fore- 
head, the occiput or back part of the head, and behind the ears, 
giving to a protestant priest a lock of cotton to wipe off the oil 
in the several places. Water in vvhich there was an infusion of 
salt, was then applied fo the back part of the head, with a plate 
held under by the sacristan, to catch the falling w^ater. The 
mother, in fidgets, as the child was crying, came to take him, 
probably thinking the ceremony was over. But the Father, 
with a frown on his amiable face, bid her go away. There 
was litde more, however, but the benediction of Dominus 
vobiscum. The baptismal words and prayer being in Latin 
with Spanish pronunciation, I did not observe when those words 
were recited. I have been minute ; for it is certainly difficult 
to see on what authority, but human, most of these circum- 
stances are founded. 

After the baptism a superb Spanish dinner was partaken in 
the hall, and after a recess from table of twenty minutes we sat 
down to a second table spread in the piazza, with a great va- 
riety of fruits and preserves. There was great decorurj 



196 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

throughout the afternoon, and but a single circumstance seen of 
those leveties common on these occasions. Once a child of five 
years came into the' hall with a mask on of an old man, with 
bacchanalian cheeks. But this was hardly to be thought of as 
singular, in a country where baptisms are usually attended with 
dancing two or three days and nights, not to speak of gambling 
and juncketing of the rudest appearance. I kr^w not to what 
to impute the seriousness and decorum of this occasion, except 
to the purity and wisdom of Father and the high char- 
acter of the god-father and god-mother, all of whom may have 
dictated the manner in which things should be conducted. 

Father speaks only Spanish, and I have too much 

self-respect to attempt conversation in broken Spanish, or in 
Latin, ill understood on both sides on account of the monstrous 
difference in pronunciation. But much passed between us 
through Dr M. an admirable interpreter, through whose good 
feeling and ingenuity our respective thoughts appeared possibly 
even better than we expressed them in our respective vernac- 
ular tongues. I think on the whole, that this amiable clergy- 
man, if not in talents, at least in other respects, would be ven- 
erated in Boston, as was the Archbishop of Bourdeaux, the ac- 
complished Cheverus. Iflwere a suffragan, and the see of 

Havana was to be filled tomorrow, Father — should 

have ray vote. 

May 5th. — Today is Sunday, and Dr M. and myself in his 

volante went to church in Atemisa, Father -'s church. 

Under his predecessor^ this church was a mere barn, and un- 
frequented. It is already assuming a neat and respectable ap- 
pearance. The walls are rude stone and mortar, and the roof 
as simple ; but the altar is neat, and even elegant in all its sim- 
plicity. The exhibitions there protestant eyes cannot approve. 
There is a neat painting of the Virgin with the holy Infant in 
her arms, and in advance, a small figure of Christ crucified. 
These serve for Christmas and Easter. 

JVIass was closing as we entered. I saw the Father's man* 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 197 

TiQT, however, was more grave and feeling than I have com- 
monly witnessed, and his benediction was audible, and his 
prayers in less of a mumbling style. There were nearly as 
many worshippers in this small village church, as in Matanzas; 
but I was sorry to see that the cock-pit and billiard table were 
still better attended, as we passed them in service time. 

Father r— soon came to us from the sacristy, and gave 

us a very kind reception, and we walked over the green to his 
house. There were, probably, twenty of his congregation, 
male, female, old and young, in his hall, where they seemed to 
have gone, as to a levee, to pay their respects, and manifest 
their affection. I could not but notice the peculiar fervor of 
two gentlemen, in their salutations and adieus, and remarked 
to Dr M., "I should think that those gentlemen, from their 
w'armth of manner, must have come from Callejabos," the 
parish from which he has been recently promoted, and a dozen 
miles distant. He stated to the Father my remark, who, with 
a delightful smile said, "they were his old parishioners of that 
place." 

As we were now on pleasant terms in consequence of these 
successive interviews and conversations, I adventured to re- 
mark to him, " that my own pastoral affections were delight- 
fully exercised this morning by more than a dozen letters from 
my family, and kind messages from my flock." 

This brings me to acknowledge the long looked for, and 
anxiously desired packets from home — that of February 3d and 
6th, and of March 30th and 3 1st, accompanied with a very kind 
letter from Dr H. They arrived i.i the evening after I had 
retired ; and after consulting together, the excellent Doctor and 
wife concluded to let me sleep in ignorance till morning. 
Whether it was that I was very hungry, or that the viands were 
peculiarly fine, I cannot say — but it was the richest repast I 
have received in my absence. I could not but shed a tear 
over my loved parishioners, gone to their graves in my absence. 
I hope now soon to be with the mourners to speak a kind word 



198 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

to them. O how grateful am I, or ought I to be, to God our 
common Preserver at home and abroad, that you are not 
mourning for the absent invalid, nor I for those who have been 
sick and in danger at home. I do hope that his great goodness 
will suitably affect us all. * * * 

Every part of both packets have been deeply interesting — 
and some parts were honored, if you please, or soiled, if you 
choose, with tears. O how deeply I grieve at the state of re- 
ligious v^ar so disgraceful to our land. Would to God I had 
strength to breast the tempest — or rather, to do something to 
bush the troubled waves to holy rest. Well, — may God in his 
mercy, to my dying hour, preserve me from the fiery elements 
of religious controversy. Why will they not remember Paul's 
words, " Though I have all knowledge, and understand all 
mysteries, and have not charity, I am nothing.''^ Love, love, 
with its sweet and heavenly fruits, is religion. But what is the 
fruit of all this tumult, but hatred, envy, and passions such as 
the great adversary delights to see in the flocks of Christ. O 
let my dear family, and my beloved flock, keep themselves 
cool and unscorched from the conflagration around them. 

As I believe in substance I mentioned in my note of yester- 
day, I expect to remain in this endeared and intellectual family a 
few days more ; and then pass a iQVf promised days on the es- 
tate of Mr F. And when the exact moment and opportunity 
shall come, I hope to slip up to Havana, and embark without 
lingering in that always critical spot. Managed in the way I 
intend, all my friends think there is, humanly speaking, no dan- 
ger. ¥: ^ ^ Y I^Qpg jQ bring some 
entertainment in notes taken in ray wanderings about this most 
interesting island. I am astonished that so very little has been 
told of Cuba. I can hardly account for it. Every body has 
been anxious to learn ; nobody to teach. It is an island in 
some of its most important points, literally unknown to foreign- 
ers. But I have done, and with love to my family, my flock, 
and my country, (with all its faults, I love it still,) I am, &ic, Sec. 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 199 

LETTER LI. 

TO MRS E A . 



St Marks, May 6th, 1828. 
* * * 

Dr L. V. dined with the family today. He was educated 
in Philadelphia and Paris, and speaks the three languages with 
perfect facility and correctness. He has been much about the 
island, and is well informed. Coffee succeeding less well than 
in better times, last season he made an attempt in tobacco ; but 
with a total failure for want of rain. He confirms what I have 
had from many, that the district of the island lying west from 
the Cusco mountains is the region for tobacco. It is watered 
with little rivers, and on their banks, overflowed, and containing 
a fin© alluvial deposit, grows the fine tobacco of the island. 

This gentleman thinks it is usually the case, that begas are 
taken by bargain with the proprietors of the ground ; not rudely, 
by driving stakes ; yet he states that there are lawsuits now 
pending between the cultivators and owners of the haciendas. 
But as that whole region is chiefly in grazing, a mode of im- 
provement yielding a moderate profit, the proprietors are glad 
to lease begas, and to give with the tobacco spots som.e other 
lands without rent to raise plantain and necessaries for the la- 
borers. A friend of my informant has paid ^S50 rent for 33 
acres of bega ; but he was not reluctant to pay the sum, as he 
obtained $7000 worth of tobacco; and even this was but an 
ordinary crop. In cultivating a bega of this extent, twenty 
negro laborers are necessary ; and it is necessary also that they 
be instructed in the business, as it requires some judgment and 
care. White laborers are more efficient and judicious than 
black. 

If the object is to cultivate the finest tobacco, they set out 
300,000 plants on a caballeria. This brings them within a foot 
and a half of each other, and the plants placed so near together, 



200 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

grow in smaller and thinner leaves. If the object be to grovr 
tobacco for the foreign market. Old Spain, Holland, &;c, where 
strength is sought for rather than fineness, 150,000 plants occu- 
py the ground ; and the trees grow large, and the leaves thick. 
The result, as to profit, is about the same in both cases. 

The best tobacco in the world is raised on the San Juan y 
Martinez. But all the rivers west of the Cusco mountains form 
excellent tobacco land ; even the banks of the mineral river 
San Diego. There is no want of excellent land in that section 
of the island for this culture. It is at present in haciendas, and 
covered with cattle ; but enterprise might convert it into a rich 
garden, yielding $25 to $oO per acre to the owner, and $212 
per acre to the cultivator, per annum. From respectable au- 
thority I learn, otherwise I should be incredulous as to so ex- 
travagant a fact;, that the late Seniora Pedrosa, who died in 
Havana, between ninety and a hundred years of age, left as a 
part only of her real estate, ninetynine haciendas between the 
Cusco and Cape San Antonio. 

The state of health and of society in that part of the island 
seems to have been a discouragement in the way of its settling 
and culture. I am led to believe that the first objection has 
been magnified. There is a boggy skirt to the south coast of 
the island, from the port of Batabano to Cape Antonio. At 
certain seasons mephitic vapors must exhale from this border of 
fresh water and mud ; but probably no more than in the thick 
settled districts in its neighborhood in St Marks and Guanima. 

I am satisfied that all along that wet border, there is a greater 
liability to disease, than in a more central situation between the 
coasts. It cannot however be called very sickly. 

If there be more deaths nearer to the cape, may it not be 
imputable to the want of physicians, and the irregular lives of 
many of the inhabitants? I have not the least doubt, from 
analogy, that among the mountains which lie on the northerly 
side of the island, it is healthy; and on them and among them 
the finest and purest air in the world. 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 201 

The state of society is bad enough. It has been the resort 
and hiding place of pirates and vAld negroes. The first of 
these, those desperadoes who for a while crimsoned the neigh- 
boring waters with the blood of unarmed men, have been efFec- 
tually suppressed. The latter are watched, and sometimes 
caught by the police of the government. There is little robbery, 
it is said, on the land, because there is little property in a tan- 
gible form to excite cupidity. Emigrants of good character 
might soon give a new complexion to the society of that region. 
Two thirds of the population is, without doubt, white ; and 
among the Monteros it is good news to hear that small schools 
are commencing. 

On the whole it is questionable whether any section of this 

heaven-favored island offers richer promise to industrious, and 

skilful, and enterprising men, than the district from the Cusco 

to Cape Antonio. 

* «■ * 

It is the opinion of Mr G. that sugar estates only are liable 
to be speckled with begas : — said to be a new regulation, ex- 
tending its influence from Candelaria to Cape Antonio. 
« * * 

There is a practical evidence, (says A. J.) of the fact that 
persons may go into a hacienda and take up tobacco. Two 
young French gentlemen have been to the leeward, and found 
persons io the number of a hundred on begas, paying no rent 
to the owners of the land, it being considered as the king's, and 
sold or given under the condition that the tobacco land should 
remain at his disposal. One individual can take upland enough 
only for 1 00,000 plants of tobacco. 

The rivers of this island are considered so far royal or public 
property, that eight yards on each side is not considered subject 
to the control of the proprietor through whose lands they run. 
He is liable to the serious inconvenience of a squatter, to use a 
descriptive term'of our own country, who may erect his ranchos 
26 



202 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

on the bank where he pleases, like the tobacco planter, provided 
he does it with the design or pretence of fishing. 



LETTER LIL 

TO MRS E A — 



St Marks, May 7th, 1828. 
* -ft % * 

The best time to ride for health in Cuba, is not before sun- 
rise, as the air has a night chilliness or dampness ; but immedi- 
ately after the sun appears. By seven o'clock the sun is too hot, 
except riding under shade. The forest is the most delightful 
for the morning ride, both because the shade is thickest, and 
the variety of beauty and grandeur is almost infinite. Guarda- 
rias of a coffee estate are delightful, being one extensive saloon, 
hung with the richest of nature's green damask. The palms 
are beautiful, but have nothing but their single tuft of feathers 
at top to shade you, and that is sometimes fifty feet high ; a 
hundred, if you ride among them in the portrero. 

At sunrise this morning I took my ride through two coffee 
estates belonging to the Marquis of Ramos. These are re- 
markable for certain squares which seem to have been intended 
for malls or shaded walks. Young mangoes were set so thick 
in rows that beneath their shade it seemed twilight. A great 
part of his estates was fenced in by a lofty and unshorn hedge 
of bamboos. 

The batey was neat rather than splendid. His house was 
ow, and the piazza cool, with Venetian blinds. A parterre, gay 
with flowers, adorned the approach to the house ; and through 
the driers and garden, the avenue leading to the house was 
striped with grass, grateful to the eye, and some relief from the 
reflected heat of the ground and driers, which in most bateys is 
almost intolerable after ten o'clock. It is a spot' which cannot 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 203 

be relieved by shade, as the sun and air must have their utmost 
power on the driers. What is wanting, however, for the pe- 
destrian and the cavalier on the batey, is fully made up to them 
in the mango malls for the one, and for the other in the guarda- 
rias of this superb tree which intersect the estate in two directions. 
From the estate of the Marquis, I passed into that of Madame 
v., in which I found corn almost in New England style ; some 
among coffee, some entirely by itself. A shower had brightened 
the foliage of that beautiful plant, and gangs were employed in 
giving it a small sugar-loaf hill, that it may stand the winds 
without falling. It is, however, bad philosophy, whether in Cuba 
or New England. Nature sustains all standard plants without 
props. We erect no mound to sustain the oak or the apple- 
tree ; nor is a hill needed for the slender stems of English grains ; 
why then for the Indian corn ? Nature is at special pains to 
sustain this valuable plant. The elastic roots are sent out in 
sundry radiations one below another in every direction, and 
they run from eight to twelve feet. These are under-ground 
aids, to keep the plant erect, as well as channels to minister 
food and moisture for the growth of the plant. Is it wise, then, 
to interfere with nature, and come with the hoe and plough when 
tlie plant is tasselling, and sever the principal aids and conduc- 
tors of aliment when the plant most needs them ? As well 
might we hope to save the mast by cutting the shrouds, and, I 
could almost say, promote the health of the animal by parting 
the esophagus. The plant lives, it is true ; because some of the 
roots are left. But it would flourish even in a dry time, if the 
caterers of dev/ had been spared. 1 have observed two fields 
in my own country, in a very dry time, conducted on different 
principles; my own field was weeded rather than moulded or 
hilled ; and if the plants rolled their leaves in the day time, the 
roots nearest the surface of tlie ground cooled them with the 
dews of the night. The other field was ambitiously and neatly 

hoed into semi-globes ; and its plants were rolled up night and 
day. 



204 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 



On this estate there is a superb palm guardaria. The palms 
are all of a height, and each row is flanked by a beautiful row 
of oranges. 

In passing up the public road to the small village of Las 
Canes, I observed two beautiful objects, such as I had not seen 
before among the infinitely diversified beauties of nature and 
culture in this vast garden of St Marks. Within a lime hedge was 
a shaded walk, formed by a row of lofty mangoes in the centre, 
and a row of orange trees on each side. The effect of the plan 
was to form a triangular or roof-like bank of the richest foliage, 
extending a mile along the high way. The other beautiful 
object was six rows of palm trees, as beautiful as Jericho. 

May 8th, at sunrise, mercury at 69°. On a pleasant cabal- 
lito, the nag of the Senorlto of the family, who with saddle, 
whip, and spurs, exactly proportioned to his size, plays the 
caballerito at six years of age, I took my morning ride. I ob- 
served that the beautiful Mamey of St Domingo seems ambitious 
of dividing, I hope no tree will ever supplant, the honors of the 
Royal palm. I rode about a half mile under the shade of these 
trees, which, as I have before remarked, considerably resemble 
the Magnolia Grandiflora. Some of the trees were in blossom, 
and some hung with ripe fruit. The blossom is small, stiff, half 
open like a rose, and resembling ivory ; and the fruit is round, 
of a russet skin, and varying in size from that of an orange, to 
that of the shattuck. 

The highway lay along a superb forest, so thick with trees 
and bajuca that I could not penetrate it before I came to a rude 
path. This I pursued till it was so crossed and interrupted by 
every species of growth that I turned back. I could have spent 
the day in these shades, this natural museum, with delight. I 
have often observed in Cuba woods a parasite, whose large 
green beautiful leaf resembles a species of water lily. It shoots 
its red roots into the bark of some large tree, near the ground, 
and spreads them out like the sealing-wax veins of a skeleton 
in a medical museum ; and it runs its vine, an inch in diameter. 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 205 

round trunk and limb to the top. 1 was fortunate this morning 
in seeing its beautiful flowering bud, a cone of 3 1-2 or 4 inches 
long, which I think promises a very beautiful flower. I left it, 
hoping to return and see it expanded. I saw a Quiebra Hacha 
of magnificent size with the bajuca embracing it from bottom to 
top ; and by their equal tops and the thrifiiness of all their parts, 
it should seem that the union is friendly, not hostile, as hereto- 
fore remarked. But it is amusing to see in so close an embrace 
plants of a nature so entirely different. 



LETTER LIII. 

TO MRS E A — 



Mariel, May 9th, 1828. 

Having spent more than five weeks in ranging over this most 
populous, most cultivated, and most productive section of the 
island, lying between the village of San Antonio and the moun- 
tains of San Salvador, more than thirty miles square, there were 
still remaining two objects which I was anxious to accomplish^ 
before I embarked for New England ; to have a sectional view 
of the island from south to north, and to visit the port of MarieL 

There are three or four miles of marsh savanna skirting the 
southern waters, which it was not convenient to penetrate ; but 
I had been quite to its border. With three miles more I was 
quite familiar. Through the kindness of a most obliging friend 
who accompanied me, we commenced our route at the sixth 
mile, and nearly in a straight line crossed the island to JMariel. 
We started as the morning bells, twenty within hearing, rung 
four : and in two hours and three quarters the fleet mules de- 
livered us at the tavern in Mariel, eighteen miles ; thirty minutes 
having been spent in stops at the most interesting points of ob- 
servation. The road was as good as a turnpike, a single mile 
excepted. Very little of this distance was in a state of nature. 



206 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

The soil was all good, and most of it of a superior quality, as 
we could perceive by its luxuriant productions of every kind. 
We passed three small villages, and within a mile and a half of 
Guanajoy, one of the largest of the interior towns. We noted 
twelve coffee estates on the road, most of them extensive ; two 
large sugar esLates, three more were in sight ; two begas of 
tobacco, one of ten acres, and the other of two ; seven large 
portreros, or pastures for cattle, two of them very large, in one 
of which my friend judged he had seen three hundred cattle at 
a time ; forty sitios, or Montero farms of small extent ; and nine 
taverns. The nutnber of sitios is probably far short of what 
should have been counted, as the buildings by which we num- 
bered them are often at a distance from the road, and sheltered 
by trees, and concealed entirely by intervening woods or hedges, 
or patches of plantain. Some of the sitios had extensive fields 
of corn, we judged ten or fifteen acres in a body, and almost as 
tall as that in New England. The largest, and heaviest, and 
most forward coffee I have seen was on this route. Almost 
every rood of the fields we passed in rapid succession was 
covered with some luxuriant growth, that made me think of the 
richest spots of alluvial soil on the banks of American rivers. 

The crop- of tobacco had been gathered ; what remained was 
chiefly for seed, and between the rows was growing a fine crop 
of beans. The taverns for the distance are fewer than it is 
i^sual to see. The villages were those of Las Canes, Laguira, 
and Taberna Nueva. In the first are churches ; in the last, 1 
believe none. We passed a large ceyba in the way, into whose 
top, sixty or seventy feet high, my friend had seen a hundred, 
or a hundred and fifty Guinea hens rise in a cloud, frightened 
by dogs. This fine domestic bird is so wild and shy on many 
estates, as to be taken only by the gun or snare. 

It may furnish a valuable hint to coffee planters, as, so far as 
I have observed, it is a new method, and very easily practised, 
to remark that we saw a beautiful field of young coffee trees, 
shaded by young plants of Palma Christi. The shades were 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 207 

set row and row with the coffee, and were a little taller, and 
extended their broad leaves over their nurslings, with just enough 
of sun and shade to render them flourishing. One league and 
a half from Mariel, the soil is black and deep. At a league 
distance, we came to a precipitous hill, by estimation thirty or 
forty feet high, where the soil was black and thin, and the sub- 
soil white coco."^ We soon had a view of the sea and a spread 
of sail between two hills. After ascending considerable hills, 
we were surprised with a most enchanting prospect of Mariel. 
We sent forv/ard the volante to the foot of the hill, and remained 
on the crest, where the eye could not he satisfied with seeing. 

From this lofty eminence on the eastern side of the town and 
bay, estimated by intelligent persons in the town and by our- 
selves at from 300 to 360 feet, I incline to the smaller altitude, 
we have an uninterrupted view of the bay and town, and of a 
fine swell of land occupied by sugar estates between the bay 
and the ocean. The entrance into the bay is one mile broad, 
protected by a small fort on each side. The bay extends nearly 
from N. E. to S. W. a league, and is a large league broad. In 
the upper part of the bay is an islet ; and a natural mole extends 
from the west land into the bay, at or near which is an embar- 
cadero. There are several beautiful indentations to the bay, 
one at the west end, and another at the east end, behind the 
town. Half way between these, the river Mariel eoters the 
bay with a considerable volume of water ; another smaller river, 
which I conjecture is that which runs through Guanajoy, enters 
not far from the eastern indentation. 

You look west over the bay and see a beautiful swell of land, 
on the top of which is a sugar estate ; the white funnel of the 
boilers I took for a beacon, and have no doubt it answers for 
one to mariners on the coast. A second small bay runs parallel 
with that of Mariel, about two miles, and lies noi-lhwardly of it. 
and might be united witli it by a sliort canal. Looking twelve 

* What they call coco in Sumidero is red, iu St Marks white, as I believe, 
but I am not quite certain. 



203 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

miles to the southwest, you see the charming mountains of San 
Salvador in fine profile, and in the rear of them more distantly, 
as a sort of flank work you see a part of the Cusco range, 
stretching farther to the westward. You turn and look east, 
and the heights of Guanajoy are within two leagues. And in 
all these directions there is high cultivation, and a vast produce 
prepared for the market. Such is the outline of the perspective. 

Now look at the foot of this bold and romantic hill, and you 
see the town of Mariel spreading itself out on a crescent penin- 
sula, which extends nearly a third of the distance across the bay. 
Twenty sail of vessels lay at the wharves, or near them, between 
the horns of this new moon. Streets are laid out with tolerable 
regularity ; and houses, and shops of goods, and large stores 
connected with wharves, and extensive cooperages, some on 
the concave, but most on the convex side of the peninsula, 
compose a pretty town. Inquiring the number of houses, the 
answer given us by different respectable men varied from 150 
to 200. But there is room for thousands below the hill, and for 
ten thousands on its charming summit. 

As we descended by a well made but precipitous road, we 
came to the spot where an accident had not long since occurred, 
which, better than words, will tell the boldness of the declivity. 
A team in ascending with a heavy load, was working a traverse 
from side to side of the path, when one of the oxen lost his 
foothold and hung by his rope over the precipice ; and the dri- 
ver to save the rest of his team cut him clear, and he was found 
dead at the foot of the precipice. 

We met wagons ascending the hill with hogsheads of fish ; 
and it seemed like meeting a countryman, to see " Boston " 
branded on the casks. At about half the descent was a Mon- 
tero settlement, with two hundred hives of bees, and a grove 
of plantain. In a few moments we alighted at a tavern in the 
neighborhood of the wharves, and refreshed ourselves on beau- 
tiful fish, just out of the water, and vino tinto, the morning be- 
verage of the country. 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 



209 



After brief refreshment and rest, we examined the principal 
things on the peninsula. We passed neat shops in the style of 
Havana and Matanzas ; but hastened to the wharves. A large 
share of the sugar and molasses business was in the hands of 
one merchant ; * and to him, well known to my friend as de- 
serving confidence, and mentioned with great respect in the 
village, we were indebted for the following information :• — That 
fifty sugar estates send their sugar and molasses to this harbor, 
thirtyfive of them to his establishment; — that more than thirty- 
coffee estates send their produce to this harbor ; — that from 
three to four hundred barrels of honey per annum are sent to 
Mariel, and much tobacco — and if it were a port of entry for 
foreign vessels, the amount of merchandise would be vastly 
greater ; — that he has lived in this port twentyfour years, and 
has never known a case of yellow fever that had its origrn here ; — 
that a vessel arrived in this bay from Pensacola, with the captain 
and all the men sick, v>rho all recovered ; — that the trade wind 
ordinarily sweeps up the bay in the morning, and the land breeze 
down the bay in the evening ; — that the water is nine feet deep 
at the wharf, three hundred feet from the principal corner of 
business, and eighteen feet a Utde farther into the bay. 

Many of the fevers of the West Indies among seamen are 
occasioned by toil in the hot sun. As it regards the heaviest 
article of export, molasses, at Mariel this is prevented. The 
muleteers bring it into town in small casks, which are emptied 
into a triangular trough, from which it passes over a strainer and 
falls into a tank fifiytwo feet long, sixteen and a half broad, and 
nine deep. It is pumped out of the tank into a duct, and run- 
ning three hundred feet, fills the casks in the vessel without 
labor to the people. A pipe can be filled in two minutes. 

Such are the natural advantages of the port of I\kriel — per- 
fectly safe for seamen of all countries. There is nothing but 
a slight elevation of land at the N. E. to prevent the trade wind 

• Don G— G . 

27 



210 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

sweeping up the bay, and nothing to arrest its course between 
the heights of Guanajoj, and the mountains of San Salvador, to 
the Gulf of Mexico. The laad breeze in turn sweeps back 
again over the same waters to the mouth of the bay. The ven- 
tilation is almost as regular as that of the hall of the Saltan by 
the oriental fan. 

If the winds should not entirely cleanse the bay, the rivers 
here, as in the bay of Matanzas, come to their aid. In winter 
they may not do much, but when the summer lains come rush- 
ing from a thousand gorges of the San Salvador and Guanajoy, 
and swell the rivers to foaming torrents, the bay of Tilariel must 
be sufficiently agitated and cleansed. The sun is now intensely 
hot, but so brisk is the breeze up the bay, that the water is 
crested with foam, and at midday we are walking the streets 
and wharves, the high ground and beach of the peninsula, but- 
toning our coats snug to be comfortable. Returned from the 
Avalk to the tavern, I am writing with a great coat on my shoul- 
ders, and am but comfortable. 

This description would not have been run into such minute- 
ness, did I not consider great interests involved in the subject. 
As an American, as a resident in a maritime town, very many 
of whose sons have been saci'ificed to the miasma of the bay of 
Havana, I feel a personal interest in the subject. It is to be 
hoped that the king, and the authorities of the island, will regard 
the voice of humanity, and make this admirable bay a port of 
entry. There are important interests nearer home which de- 
serve consideration. The neighborhood of this port is like the 
banks of the Nile for fertilit}', and like a garden for the perfec- 
tion of its culture. It seems due to the planters, by making 
Mariel a port of entry, to relieve them from the alternative of 
an expensive land carriage of their heavy produce to Havana, 
or a double shipment to bring it to market. A relief from this 
tax, which brings nothing to the public treasury, would be grate- 
fully received, and render them more able, and more cheerful, 
to pay the reasonable demands of government. This tax is no 



LETTERS FROM CUBA, 



211 



trifling affair. A very intelligent planter and careful calculator 
states^hat a coffee estate in St Marks, that sends 100,000 lbs. 
to Havana, pays $1000 for cartage to the city, and bringing 
necessary articles for the plantation in the return cart. Six 
hundred dollars of that sum might be saved by sending to Ma- 
riel ; and if he has a portrero, by using his own oxen and men, 
two hundred more might be saved. So that the tax in conse- 
quence of keeping the port of Mariel shut, to a second rate 
planter is #800, and to some in the district 16 or $1800 per 
annum. If this calculation be thought sanguine, it must be 
substantially correct; what then is the amount of this exorbitant 
tax on the whole district within ten m.iles of JMariel ? 

Ten years ago his Majesty saw the propriety of the measure, 
and 2;ave orders accordingly : but they were not executed, or 
if the port was opened, it was soon again shut. Every succeed- 
ing year, by extending the surface of cultivated ground in the 
neighborhood, and accumulating the mass of production, renders 
the disappointment of the planters more keenly felt. More than 
3000 coasting vessels are employed in carrying the growth of 
the countrv to Havana ; most of them must run on the leeward 
coast. The flourishing city of Matanzas has not so much ag- 
riculture in its neighborhood as Mariel. 

In our walk on the peninsula, we observed a broad sheet of 
water between us and the western shore of the bay. Wiiere 
the two rivers come into the bay there is the usual mangrove 
border, but it does not extend far, and is too remote from the 
town to be injurious or offensive. 

The extremity of the peninsula is occupied as a burial ground ; 
and as there seemed to be a church in its neighborhood, we 
extended our walk to see them. The church was a pretty 
extensive building ; but to our surprise filled with sugar. We 
could see by the form and apertuifes that it was intended to 
have been a house of God, but had been converted to a house 
of merchandise. We passed through the store with a civil re- 
cognizance of the attendant, and discovered in the piazza a 



212 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

small apartment, perhaps twelve feet square, partitioned off, and 
the exclamation of Jacob over the door — " Hoc est nihil aliud, 
quam Domini domns." The court of the Gentiles was certainly 
much the largest part of the temple, and, I fear, more frequented 
than the " holy of holies." 

The burial ground is an enclosure of about three rods square ; 
and just over Its slight hedge was a Golgotha, a vast mass of 
human bones, bleached, and mouldering in the sun. 



LETTER LIV. 

TO MRS E A — 



Las Canes, May, 1S'2S. 
In returning from Mariel, we were diverted from our morn- 
ing route a couple of miles, and visited the village of Guanajoyo 
A small river runs through the town, and is much frequented 
by both sexes for bathing. Some spots are excavated to deepen 
the water, and some have a screen of palm bark that the bathers 
might be retired. Ladies of good appearance were seen taking 
their walk to the water. This village is supposed to contain 
7000 inhabitants ; but I should judge that it is overrated. The 
streets are paved rudely. Some of the houses are handsome j 
they have a plaza with a church on one side, and the tasteful 
establishment of a marquis on the other. Handsome barracks 
have been erected in the town, and a considerable body of 
troops occupy them to preserve the peace of the neighborhood. 
Three companies vi^ere on drill as we walked over the green, 
and through the halls of the barracks. The square which they 
inclose is without the comfort of a single shade ; and the pave- 
ment and buildings are of a chalky whiteness, and some of the 
soldiers on drill were in long cloth coats and heavy caps ; cir- 
cumstances which 1 should think would occasion in this climate 
frequent detachments to the springs of San Diego. - The upper 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 213 

lip of the soldiers is in a state of nature, and the beard arches 
over the mouth like a penthouse. 

There was some degree of disappointment in regard to this 
important village, of which I had heard much. I had in imagi- 
nation connected the town with the heights in its neighborhood, 
which bear the same name. Those heights I had often seen 
in the distance from the tops of the San Salvador, towering 
like pyramids on the plains of Egypt. I thought the populous 
village might have been placed on table land, or at least on some 
fine swell, raising it far above the champaigne neighborhood. 

The village site has secured none of the advantages alluded 
to, except those of a small river which supplies water for ordi- 
nary uses, and affords facilities and encouragement to general 
bathing. But it deserves honorable mention for the attention 
here paid to education. There are at least three full schools 
in the place for boys, and some for girls. We had the privilege 
of passing a half hour in one of the schools, and perceived there 
was excellent order and attention to study. The common 
branches of elementary education were attended to, as most of 
the pupils, exceeding forty in number, were small. Writing 
makes a conspicuous figure in this, as in all Spanish schools. 
They write on half sheets curiously prepared by a stamp which 
determines height, distance, and parallelism with perfect accu- 
racy. Lads of eight might be called good writers. A part of 
the school were studying their lessons in small manuscript; 
probably suitable school books in that branch were not to be 
had. 

We left .Guanajoy about five o'clock, and were at Lns Canes 
at vespers, after travelling forty miles in the day, on a turnpike 
road, excepfing gates, and surveying a section of the island of a 
most interesting character. Not, indeed, by chain, but by sat- 
isfactory measurement, we find the island twentyseven miles 
broad from south to north, at a hundred and fifty miles distance 
from Cape San Antonio, and twentyseven from Havana. It is 
six miles from the water's edge to Cafetal La Emprcssa, from 



214 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

which we started ; eighteen miles thence to Mariel ; and, as 
we were informed, three miles to the sea, over and beyond the 
bay.* 



LETTER LV. 

TO MRS E A 



St Marks, May 11th, 1S2S. 
You probably are thinking me just ready to embark for New 
England, and here I am almost fifty miles from Flavana. I 
indeed intended to have been at San Antonio, nearer to the 
city, by this time, ready to take advantage of circumstances. 
I have not hurried, because it is somewhat sickly in Havana, 
and also because I have objects engrossing my attention, which 
I trust may be of some importance to the family, and because 
I am fully sensible it might be injurious to my cough to arrive 
in B. before the 1st of June. To relieve you from all suspicion, 
however, that 1 am not as w^ell as I have been, I 'state distinctly 
that I am better. I rise very early and ride ; and often ride 
again in the evening, and carefully av^oid hot suns. The wea- 
ther and climate thus humored, are delightful beyond your con- 
ception. In the morning the mercury is at 65 to 70, and 80 
to 82 or 84 at 2 o'clock. The air is fragrant and elastic ; horses 
as easy as cradles ; friends highly intelligent and devoted ; things 
to be seen interesdng and important; and if my manuscripts, 
well filled, do not bring you informadon entirely new, and en- 
tertainment to friends so partial, I shall be disappointed. I 
believe I may uprightly say, that I know as much as almost any 
man of a section of the country 160 miles from sea to sea, and 
from east to west. * * ^ ^ J early fixed my objects, 
and I have kept them constantly in view, and every day and 

* It is therefore much too loosely said by Huber that the Island is twelve 
to fourteen leagues broad in the narrowest part. 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 215 

hour now appears very important wbi!e I remain on the island. 
There have been distinguished Americans here who, on account 
of the great debility of some, or the suspicions which attached 
to others as poHtical men, saw very httle of the island. There 
is scarcely a spot on the globe so interesting. Yet except the 
mere skirt of the island, seen from the deck of a vessel, and 
Havana, and Matanzas, and St Jago de Cuba, and Principe, 
little has been known of its interiorto Americans or Europeans. 
There is, notwithstanding, the greatest thirst for information. 
Letters have come from the Western country, soliciting from a 
distinguished gentleman on the island information by letter. 
There is not less eagerness in the Atlantic states. And why- 
there has been no one to collect and diffuse information, cannot 
be accounted for but on the score of dangers to a foreigner. It 
is not without good cause that men go armed 5 and in despite 
of arms, disasters are frequent ; and if American editors could 
draw from Cuba springs, the horribles in their columns would 
be multiplied a thousand fold. I have been sometimes a little 
nervous ; and my friends are very careful to extend protection 
to me in town- and country. But my security lies chiefly in 
my peaceful character, and discreet conduct, and in divine pro- 
tection. Havana is a place so profligate, that really I do not 
wish to pass more than one night there, and eve.n that I will 
avoid if I can. 

I can never be grateful enough for the respect shown me on 
this island by foreigners and Spaniards, by laymen and by cler- 
gymen. Except from Matanzas to Havana, I have never wanted 
horse or volante free of expense, to go short or long excursions, 
for a day or for a week, and gentlemen of standing, and of two 
or three tongues, to attend me. This is no ordinary degree of 
courtesy, and interest to promote my objects, and my safety, 
and comfort. It surpasses Carolinian hospitality. I ought to 
see in it something more than a human hand, even His, who 
turns the hearts of men whither He will. 

This very dear family seems almost like home. They enter 



216 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

fully into all my feelings and plans, and contribute to the gratify- 
ing and accomplishing them in every way they can. 

If God shall prosper me, I shall hope to see you all by the 
beginning of June. * * * I have no time to add much. 
Love to the dear family of D.'s, whom I can never forget for 
all their thoughts of kindness for me and mine. Love to the 
family, and to all who ask. 



LETTER LVI. 

TO MRS E A . 

St Marks, May Sth, 1828. 
At seven o'clock I returned to a further entertainment of a 
different sort, — from that ugliest of reptiles, the scorpion. A 
negro brought one of monstrous size, and of that inky hue which 
looks most wicked and revolting. He had seized him by the 
tail, and he hung dangling and hissing, but harmless. A bottle 
was soon prepared, and the prisoner was clapped into gaol. 
Not thinking he ought to be hung for his ugly looks, and wishing 
to adopt modern humane im.provements with regard to incarce- 
ration, we gave him a good breakfast on a cockroach. The 
cockroach when put in, kept at as respectful a distance as pos- 
sible ; but when shaken downwards, the scorpion made a pass 
at him and struck off a leg. He took better aim the second 
time, and thrust in his dagger under his wing, which put him in 
slight convulsions, the mere trembling of the muscles after life 
is gone. He instantly seized his prey by the throat or tongue, 
we could not decide which. We proceeded to observe the 
epicure with a microscope, which developed a curiosity of me- 
chanisin, which we had not suspected. His back resembled 
ihat of a turtle, and on it was a little eminence, and on each 
side a speculum, no doubt to answer the purpose of eyes in that 
part. The animal had done banqueting on the blood of the 



LETTERS FROM CUB\. 217 

cockroach, and was eagerly partaking of the solids. The glass 
was somewhat imperfect, but we thought we could not be de- 
ceived in regard to the following facts :- The scorpion has two 
distinct heads, which he thrusts out from under a sort of tortoise 
shell, and both conspire in the business of devouring. His man- 
dibles resemble a hawk's beak, the upper part being quite as 
much hooked. With these means, which appeared, in their 
magnified state, truly savage, he was soon gorged whh his food, 
and left the relics in disgust, as we could not incite him to renew 
his meal. 

A lusty Montero came in while we were examining the scor- 
pion, and exclaimed, snapping his fingers, " Better crush his 
head than carry him to America ; " and drew his ivory-handled 
knife from the sheath far the purpose. He took a particular 
fancy to the stranger; hoped he would setile in the island, and 
have a sugar or coffee estate, and would make him his mayoral 
— he had served Condes and Marquises in that capacity. If I 
would not settle here, he proposed going with me to America, 
aod asked if 1 had a coflee estate, or a sugar estate, there ? 

In return for his civilities, I inquired how many children he 
had. " Ten," was his answer ; but that " he had lost one, as 
the boy had married J"* " No," I replied, " you have gained 
another daughter." He boasted of one boy at seventeen who 
was strong enough to throw his father over the hedge. " But 
how do you keep such stout boys in order in your family ? " He 
snapped his fingers and said, " By correcting them as long as 
they need it ; and when they aie whiskered, and think to have a 
will of their own, or are reluctant to submit to the order of the 
house, it is time for them to pack out of it." 

The scorpion once more. This ugly reptile inspires con- 
siderable terror on this island, and inflicts a temporary pain of 
great severity. The first sensation from the wound is as if a 
needle, some have said a rusty nail, were thrust into the part. 
Several of the servants of this family have been stung, and re- 
cently Mrs D'W, In the case of the servants, stung in the hand, 
28 



218 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

the arm and shoulder were much affected ; a sort of paralysis 
took place, and the finger stung was swollen to nearly twice its 
ordinary size, and was very stiff; and in two of the cases, a 
swelling rose on the body, under the arm, as large as a pigeon's 

egg. 

The remedy resorted to is for a person immediately to clasp 
the arm till a cord is bound round it, and then apply garlic or 
lime juice to the wound ; but the most effectual application is 
the animal itself, crushed, or laid open with a knife. The limb, 
stung by a small scorpion, is better in a couple of hours ; and, 
by a large one, it is numb and useless for the first day, conva- 
lescent the second, and well the third. 

It seems to me most probable on the whole, that there is no 
poison in the case, but an extraordinary lesion of the parts 
penetrated by the crooked dagger, accompanied with extreme 
pain. If this be the fact, the cording of the arm is certainly 
useless, if not worse. 

One month ago, the planter on this estate discovered a very 
large female scorpion in his magazine, and secured her in a 
glass vessel, neither party being injured. Twentyfive days af- 
ter, (1st of May,) she was discovered with a young family in 
the corked bottle, so numerous that it was difficult to count them. 
It is said that the young live on the living flesh of the mother. 
They are disposed all over her back, as thick as they can be 
stowed. Now and then one, like the smallest pig of a litter, is 
crowded off by his lustier brothers and sisters, and scrambles 
over the backs of the rest to find a birth. As the captive was 
originally intended for the American virtuoso, and has been 
transferred to his disposal, we shall have a fair opportunity of 
deciding the fact, whether the tender mother, with a deadly 
weapon in her tail, yields herself as food to her unnatural chil- 
dren. 

At present, I see all the parties as quiet and contented as in 
similar cases between parent and young. The motlier folds 
back her sting, that she may not wound her offspring, and seemg 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 219 

to caress them with the smooth termination of her body. And 
on the other hand 1 see no corrosion of the body by the young* 
The shoulder of one of her lobster-like claws oozes with a white 
matter. 1 suspend judgment, certain now that facts must speak 
a clear language. ***** 

13th May, Mr ' ■ — had given her one cockroach, and 

said she would refuse food till it should be eaten up. She had 
nothing more till today. Three or four days I have suspected 
that the mother has been feeding on her children. Little white 
gristle has made its appearance in the bottle, which I take to be 
substance of the skeleton. Still I can discover no corrosion of 
the mother, and no lack of vigor. This day I put in a cock- 
roach, and he was powerfully assailed by her, either out of fear 
for her children, or from hunger. She soon transfixed him with 
her sting, at the same time clenching his throat with one of her 
claws, and commenced the work of devouring with her heads. 
It seems now likely to turn out that the children are not parri- 
cides, but that the mother is an infanticide, rather than suffer 
hunger. 

Scorpions are prone to haunt houses, store-rooms, and hollow 
trees ; and often stow themselves snugly in the space between 
the loosened palm leaf and the trunk from which it is about to 
fall. They seem particularly to delight to bed and board in a 
guano roof. Where this happens to cover the hall, the piazzas 
and bed-chambers, of the mansion, which is often the case, and 
there is nothing to intercept the fall of these careless creatures, 
it is considerably inconvenient. In the bed-chamber, they 
sometimes creep snugly in between the sheets, so that it is pru- 
dent to examine the beds, if you prefer to lie alone. Somewhat 
frequently they are discovered, by a torpedo touch, in putting 
on your shoes or boots in the morning ; and sometimes they are 
stowed away in garments worn on other parts of the body. On 
these accounts, as I generally wish to see the stars in the morn- 
ing sky in this delightful climate, I am perplexed in performing 



220 LETTEItS FROM CUBA. 

my toilet in the dark. But hitherto no unpleasant accident has 

occurred. 

^ ^ ii 

May Sth, in the afternoon, in the volante, we went a few 
rough miles, over more stone than soil, to see two or three cu- 
rious sumideros. The Guira Simarona, or wild calabash tree, 
was pointed out to me in the forest; it considerably resembles 
the cultivated calabash in limb and leaf; but the fruit, instead 
of being as big as pumpkins, is no bigger than oranges. The 
fruit of this tree has medicinal qualities, perhaps magnified by 
common people, but respected by physicians. By the side of a 
hio-hway we discovered the yawning of a sumidero overhung 
with trees and bajuca, unknown even to the planter with whom 
1 was riding, though he lived in the neighborhood. We looked 
into the gulf, and could see it opening in different directions, 
and probably leading to extensive apartments. 

On the estate which we proceeded to visit, there were two 
of these sumideros, beautiful and invaluable. We passed down 
natural steps into a spacious cavity, twentyfive or thirty feet 
deep, to two natural baths of the purest rock water, with a rise 
or partition of rocks between them. The baths are overhung 
with rocks, shading the bathers from the morning sun. These 
rocks drop with petrifying water, wliich lies on the surface a 
transparent scum. It is, however, easily brushed aside, and 
leaves the bath so crystalline that the smallest fish is seen in its 
bosom, the smallest speck at the bottom. 

The gentlemen's bath is at this time six feet deep, and some- 
times it is twelve ; and of sufficient extent to admit of swimming. 
The ladies' bath is about half that depth. To increase the 
interest of this beautiful bagnio, which the Naiads might covet 
to haunt, several hollows in the rock above are the natural domi- 
cils of bees ; and so enchanted are they with the spot, that in 
some cases they have appended their combs to the plane surface 
of the rock, masses of which, curiously formed in cones, would 
measure from one to two feet in length and breadth. 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 221 

A third sumidero in the neighborhood of the baths, bj' a litde 

sloping given to the entrance, furnishes an unfailing spring, to 

which the cattle of the portrero have access. The waters of 

this charming fountain appear to have communication with each 

other, and fish appear in the baths and hide in the recesses at 

pleasure. 

* * * * 

From authority which I cannot question, I learn that there 
are caves in mountains beyond Manantiales, which abound with 
human bones. A captain of police stated to a distinguished 
friend of mine, that in pursuing renegado negroes he was obliged 
to enter two different caves, into which they ran for concealment, 
and was surprised to find them covered with human bones in 
such quantity that carts might have been loaded with them with- 
out seeming to diminish them. 

By what means they came there is a question not very easily 
solved. The theory which some adopt, is that the natives when 
pursued by the Spaniards, took refuge in these caves and per- 
ished with hunger. Is it not as probable that the original in- 
habitants may have used these caverns as cemeteries ? I have 
somewhere read, or received from, I believe, an intelligent cap- 
tain who spent a few years on the Northwest Coast, that the 
natives there bury in caverns, and that the skeletons are in re- 
markable preservation, and generally the teelhof a living white- 
ness and polish. 



LETTER LVII. 

TO MRS E A 



La. Mary Anna, May 15th, 1828. 
I SHAVED by starlight, and was on my way with Monsieur P. 
for Mr S.'s estate a half hour before sunrise ; with my doublet 
and great coat, like a Montero. I found the mayoral and about 



^^^ LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

one third of his hands, a hundred and thirty, at work on a dam 
across the San Juan river, and a canal leading from the pond 
to a sumidero to carry a saw mill. It was a lively scene. 
Several carts were carrying soil from the canal to the dam, and 
the hands, men and women, boys and girls, with baskets on 
their heads, were carrying their loads, proportioned to their 
strength, like a foraging party of bibiaguas. 

In the canal was a lusty negro with oxen and an American 
plough loosening the stiff and clayey soil, which he performed 
dexterously, accomplishing, said the mayoral, the work of thirty 
men. Several men with shovels were engaged in filling the 
baskets, and the centre mayorals, with each his badge of office 
in his hand, followed his division, as an arriero or muleteer his 
loaded horses or mules to the market, quickening their pace 
with the word of cheer. 

The dam which they are forming will be sixteen feet higb 
from the bottom of the pond ; and to secure the ground beneath, 
they have dug as many more, to a coco bottom. The canal 
leads to the foot of the batey, and the water, after falling over 
the wheel with eleven and a half square inches of it is to lose 
itself in the mouth of a sumidero. If they succeed in thus losing 
the water, of which there can be no reasonable doubt, he will 
be able to saw from three to six months in the year. The well 
of this estate is a hundred and twenty feet deep, and water is 
pumped by mules. Near it is a sumidero which descends about 
fortyfive feet, and opens into a cave ; but it has not been pene- 
trated, as the air is so foul as to extinguish a lighted candle. 

Near the well is his cooperage and blacksmith shop, where 
the work is done with neatness by negro mechanics.* The 
hospital is a hundred and twentyfour bars from the house, north j 
and with a valley between them, is nearly on the same level. 
The bohea is eigbtyfour bars from die house, south, with a valley 
between them, tlie future garden of the batey. At the head of 

* Near the mecbsnic shops is a mill with a revolving stone to grind bricks 
to dust. 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 223 

this valley is a row of tanks partly formed, and to be completed 
at leisure, which will be su Lcient to irrigate the garden at plea- 
sure, and without watering-pot, and t) display an enchanting 
variety of water works that may emulate Versailles. The land 
of this second coffee estate of the island, is thirtytwo and a half 
cavallerias, about eleven hundred acres. Canucos seventeen 
bars square ; negroes a little rising four hundred. 

The mayoral on horseback conducted us in a more direct 
way through the estate, and we saw excellent coffee trees in a 
forest, and under wasseraar shade. There was some miserable 
land, the soil white clay and sand ; but in general the estate was 
in fine order. Considerable use is made of lime as a manure, 
and the effect is very perceptible and immediate. An extensive 
dam has been erected to prevent the rains flooding a part of the 
estate. 

On the whole, I have seen better land than some of it, but no 
estate which appears better conducted, and which gives so fair 
a promise one day of a superb and beautiful batey, with every 
convenience and luxury which an oriental fancy could desire. 

In passing thence to the Mary Anna, I observed a beautiful 

square of Guinea grass of eight or ten acres, perfectly set, of 

equal size, and same color all over, walled in on two sides, and 

lime hedges on two. At half past seven we arrived at the 

Mary Anna, having travelled fourteen miles, and seen many 

interesting things. 

* * * * 

The Mary Anna is a fine estate of 250,000 trees, and 140 
negroes. A fine avenue of palm and orange leads to the batey. 

After breakfast and a short repose we walked out, chiefly in 
shade, to see a portrero tank. It is beautiful ; the tank being 
bars square, and deep, and the sloping pavement by 



which it is filled, . 

We passed into a beautiful wood, and measured what is 
thought one of the largest ceybas on the island. Two feet from 
the ground, across the braces spread to sustain the vast tree, we 
found by a line that it measured sioctyeight feet in circumference. 



224 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

After dinner we mounted our horses for a rapid survey of 
four fine estates which lie in a square together with a public 
road on three sides of them. The first is the Mary Anna, a 
coffee estate of 350 acres, of 250,000 trees, and 140 negroes. 
The second the Unidad, of 350 acres, 230,000 trees, and 160 
negroes. The third, the Reunion, of 700 acres, 450,000 trees, 
and 300 negroes. The fourth, the Doloris, a sugar estate, of 
2000 acres, and 260 negroes ; the two last estates belong to 
one person, and are under one administraor, and the negroes 
are transferred from one to the other as the work of each is 
most pressing. 

Last year the three coffee estates yielded about 35,000 arobes 
of coffee, and the sugar estate about 32,000 arobes of s:jgar, 
besides corn, and plantain, and tobacco, and a long et cetera, 
not convenient to enumerate. The soil and cultivation are ex- 
cellent ; the fields level ; the trees and cane thrifty ; the bateys, 
except of the sugar estate, where it is customary to pay little 
respect to neatness, are veiy tasteful, and the whole is a garden 
with only small copses of wood; which are as ornamental as they 
are necessary ; and nearly throughout inclosed by a lime hedge, 
or a handsome, I may almost say di faced wail, two feet and a 
half wide at bottom, and a foot narrower at the top. In the 
circuit we dismounted only once, to pass the narrow edge of a 
bibiaguera, excavated twentyfive feet deep, and once to seethe 
sugar buildings. 

This enumeration is given to exhibit a favorable specimen of 
the manner in which the district of St Marks is cultivated. A 
little more than 3000 acres of land are cultivated by a few less 
than nine hundred slaves, and yield 875,000 lbs. of coffee, and 
800,000 lbs. of sugar, worth $126,750, in bad times, as it re- 
spects coffee. If you survey this wide extent, the broad aisles 
and shady rides for horse and carriage, the profusion of palms 
and mangoes, of lime hedge and rose hedge, of flowering shrubs 
in the avenues and of fanciful parterres in the bateys, not only 
the comfortable, but in some cases the handsome boheas, and 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 225 

every species of building that is needful or ornamental, you 
might imagine yourself in the park and pleasure grounds of an 
English nobleman, and stopping to consider the revenue, you 
might think yourself in the domain of a German prince. 

If you will consider this account of a square of land almost 
surrounded by public road, in connexion with my former letter 
exhibiting a sectional view of the island, they will illustrate each 
other, and at least will prevent misconstruction. Around these 
magnificent estates are the sitios and portreros, as guards of 
public order, which a predominance of unsafe population might 

otherwise subject to great contingencies. 

* * * 

On the Mary Anna they make much use of the plough among 
coffee ; and are not alarmed, if they rend some roots and some 
branches, as they are immediately more than replaced. From 
Mr B. I learn that the bajuca turned tree, is termed Jaboa; 
and we observed that its old nature was in some degree pre- 
served, that of running from above to obtain a fixture in the 
ground. Tassels of roots are often seen starting out of the 
trunk of the tree twenty feet or more from the ground, and out 
of large limbs, and growing and fluttering in the wind, till they 
reach the ground, when they grow more rapidly, and fill up the 
spaces in the openwork trunk. So that a large tree is made 
up of a tissue of trunks running into each other. 

The very excellent tanks made on this estate are done in the 
following manner : The shell is first built, backed with heavy 
rock to prevent bursting. The outside is first completed and 
dried. The inside is then plastered faithfully, which dries with- 
out cracking, as it is sheltered from the sun. The coat remains 
eight or ten days to dry, but not too much. The last coat is 
made of lime, and of limestone beaten fine and sifted, rather 
more of lime than of stone dust. The smallest crack is not to 
be seen in the tank. 

* * * 

Yesterday at sunrise I rode and examined a tree in Don 
29 



226 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

Tarafa's estate, growing out of a high dry stump, roots spread 
down its sides as if it were soil. Tiie top bushy, and seven to 
nine inches through the flourishing stem. 

I entered a gate on which was written El Recreo, (Don 
Munoz) and turned into the guadaria leading to the batey. 
There are six rows of trees, two of which are large mango trees, 
at right and left ; the other four are various. There are two 
beautiful gardens, one on each side of the house ; a neat hedge ; 
green bowers; and flowering trees, and shrubs, and plants. 
The garden on the right is much ornamented with mason work, 
and jets for water. The guadaria leading from the batey is 
also beautiful. Four rows of trees, and four rose hedges in 
bloom, lead to a circular laguna, surrounded by a rose hedge 
with a little island in it, and a palmareal in the centre ; and ducks 
and ducklings were swimming about in it. A figured edging of 
Bermuda grass, and circular row of small orange trees, are 
without the rose hedge. The laguna is in the range of the 
guadaria, and beyond is a beautiful bamboo alley, lofty, and 
finely arched. At right angles is an alley of very beautiful 
bread-trees, forty in number. 



LETTER LVIII. 

TO MRS E A -. 

May, 18-28,. 
We rode from the Reserva to the village of San Antonio to 
examine whatever was remarkable. I was attended by a very 
respectable black man, the mayoral of the estate. He is a freed 
man, with considerable property, and a salary of f 1000 per 
annum, while another very respectable French manager of two 
estates in the neighborhood receives but f 800. He has several 
daughters in Havana for their education. He was dressed, and 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 227 

mounted, booted, and spurred, with as much taste as other 
gentlemen ; and as we passed to town, and through the streets, 
he received the salutations of very many white people, as well 
as free blacks, and bestowed his benison on slaves of good char- 
acter, as he passed them, which was always received with .a 
smile and token of gratitude. He is probably about forty years 
old, and is a striking instance of the respect and prosperity to 
which good conduct may conduct a slave, in this country. He 
was freed by his master, and entered into the service of the 
proprietor of this estate as a body servant. Discovering talents 
and fidelity, he gave him education, and made him his manager. 

The village of San Antonio contains a good sized church, a 
market square with a considerable variety of meats and vegeta- 
bles, many handsome houses, and many of mean appearance, 
new and handsome barracks with about 300 soldiers, and a very 
remarkable river. The river we examined for a half mile ex- 
tent. There is mqch water in its bed before it enters the thicket 
of houses. Black men were swimming back and forth in the 
uncovered river ; and when standing, not in the deepest part, 
the water covered their shoulders. A mill stands on the bank, 
as I was informed, but I could not discover wheel or dam. A 
large number of ranches, or palm roofs, are thrown over the 
river, in various places, for screens to persons bathing. Some 
of their baths seemed to have been formed with more care and 
expense, the ground being excavated in the bank to admit the 
running stream, and the ranches are connected with houses. 
The river, where not disturbed by horses and hosders, and by 
soldiers washing their clothes, is clear, and its waters cool. I 
cannot learn that the water has any mineral qualities, but it is a 
place of very considerable resort for bathing. Houses are hired 
by families, and they pass a number of weeks bathing and en- 
joying the pastimes most common in the island, and indulging 
in the vices which everywhere intrude am.ong the gay and idle. 

What is most remarkable about this river is the quantity of 
water, which you see running through the town, and its entire 



228 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

disappearance within thirty rods of a large bridge, and within 
five rods of a spot where the water is running briskly and in 
sufficient depth for soldiers to stand on the bank and wash their 
clothes. The ground over which it passes is stony, and through 
holes and fissures, common in this island, the water merges at 
this season in silence. When the rains come, and the stream 
swells to a larger size, it holds on its course a few rods further, 
and leaps at once into a sumidero. This spot we examined 
with care. Immediately over the yawning gulf, and on a shelf 
of rock, stands a vast ceyba. Beneath its roots, in a downward 
angle, the cavern opens its mouth, a few feet in width, and 
thirty or forty from corner to corner ; and when the stream is 
at its summer height, the flood rushes into this immense throat, 
with a thundering noise, which has been heard three miles. A 
Montero on the spot observed, that this cave had been examined 
about forty rods under ground, where it opened into another 
sumidero, which also became a cave. The direction of the 
waters where they merge, is for Guanima and the Caribbean 
sea. We rode through the principal streets of the town, and 
visited the church. It is a good sized country church, with a 
belfry and chime of bells. A small chapel is appended to one 
corner of the church for the burial service. The church was 
opened, and we entered. There was a taper burning before 
the altar, and two women kneeling, and one of them with a rosary 
on her finger, was now and then passing a bead. 

The furniture of the altar, I perceive, is varied considerably 
in form, material, and general appearance, in different churches. 
This was not highly ornamented. There was a spread of red 
damask, or some other cloth, over much of the wall, behind the 
altar. In different parts of the church there were three or four 
wax figures of the Virgin, with the infant in her arms, nearly as 
large as life, and covered with glass. Her . head is adorned 
with a crown, and her neck with brilliants, I could not determine 
of what value. 

In the southeastern corner of the church is a small room, 



I 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 229 

appropriated to the rite of baptism. In the centre stands a 
marble font of considerable capacity, covered, and with a small 
crucifix standing erect, its base being a cube of lead. 

In no plantation which I have visited, are their guadarias of 
such width and shade, and beauty, as those of the associated 
estates of Reserva, Fundador, and Pequena Cabana. The 
volante can pass twentyfive miles under superb shades without 
passing twice over the same avenue. Single guadarip.s leading 
to bateys are sometimes more highly ornamented. Four and 
even six rows of palm and mango, and of other ornamental trees 
are seen, w^ith equal numbers of shrubs with gaudy flowers, or 
rose hedges, or gay clumps of annuals. But those beauties are in 
small compass ; but here twenty caballerias of land are adorned, 
with fruitful cofiee trees and graceful palms, and mangoes so 
rich in branch and fohage as to make twilight of a tropical noon. 



LETTER LIX. 

TO MRS E A — 



Havana, May 22d, 1828. 

I HAVE this moment arrived from the country, and have a few 
minutes only to apprise you of my circumstances and plans. 
First of all, as you will be most interested to know, I am ex- 
ceedingly well. Even my cough is better. I have a fine appe- 
tite, and fine spirits, and rode this morning before ten o'clock, 
twentyseven miles, breakfasting on the road. I am last from 
the charming family of Mr F., where I have spent two days, 
enjoying the real sweets of domestic life. Not a member of the 
family failed of contributing in every devisable way to my en- 
joyment. But I will spread out the particulars when we meet, 
which 1 trust, through the great goodness of God, will be in a 
few days. 

Everything for some weeks has gone on smilingly j and as I 



230 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

am at the water's edge, and can throw the letter beyond the 
reach of prying eyes, I now tell you plainly, what you have 
guessed I dare say with your yankee sagacity, that I have de- 
cided, if God sends me to the United States in safety, to publish 
a volume which will gratify public curiosity on a point to which 
it has been unsuccessfully directed for a great while. 

■X' ■X- % 

So much for business. As the letter is not yet called for, I 
add a few words of my morning adventures. The major domo 
entered my chamber at four o'clock, with a light ; and five 
oranges, peeled, to my hand. I dressed in few moments, 
washed, despatched my five oranges, and looked at the stars. 
The gentleman manager, a gentleman with black skin, a freed- 
man, with a salary of f 1000 per annum, called to bid me good 
morning — and intormed me the volante was at the door. Mr 
F. then appeared in his night gown, to see if everything was as 
it should be, and to embrace me at parting. The bolt of a 
door turned between my chamber and another, and Mrs W.'s 
hand was thrust through the crack to bid me farewell ; Miss 
Cs succeeded ; and I leaped into the carriage. My calesero 
seemed almost to fly. We were in the village of San Antonio 
in about twenty minutes, and fifteen miles in two hours and five 
minutes, with the panting animals. There, at Rincona, we 
stopped an hour, and with fresh horses, which Mr F. had sent 
over night, we came like the wind through a beautiful farming 
country, full of swells and hollows, cultivated in large cabbage 
gardens, corn fields — large fields, acres and acres, of tumatas, 
and every delicate vegetable that will fetch money in this vast 
city. As. it is against the law for the cits to ride with more than 
one horse, except for the Captain General and the Bishop, I 
was astonished at the temerity of my calesero, who dashed into 
the city with two, not relaxing his speed except at corners, and 
where he must drive to a hair. I was rather alarmed to see 
him dash by the palace of the Governor, as if to brave him to 
the face. But nobody arrested me, though a soldier now and 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 23 t 

then, with bis whiskered upper lip, seemed to look hard at me. 
I now suspect tliat a country carriage is allowed to enter with 
two horses. We stopped at the door where Mr G. does busi- 
ness, and my baggage, my living and dead scorpions, ray two 
dozen of oranges, and my black hat, (my white was on my 
head,) were in a moment transferred to an apartment as cool 
as the mango alleys of Mr F. — the mercury at 84°. You 
would smile to peep in upon me, dressed as I am for dinner and 
company. I am in borrowed feathers — a gingham coat, white 
waistcoat and trousers, white cotton socks, and thin shoes. 
This is done for coolness, and because it is of no manner of 
importance to observe costume in this place. Even more, — it 
is safer that I appear like a Spaniard in this city of the stiletto. 
I am fully of opinion that f am in as healthy an air as in the 
country; and, rely upon it, I shall not budge a step in the 
street till the vertical sun has lost much of his power,~in the 
last of the afternoon, and the first of the morning. It is Friday, 
I expect to sail on Sunday. Others have arrived in New York 
in nine days : that is better than a common chance. I hope to 
see you in a fortnight. 

How is my good friend and colleague ? Bid him wait pa- 
tiently. I am as anxious to be at B. as any of my dear friends 
are to see me. I now indulge the hope. that I shall be able to 
renew my labors, and shall hope, by Divine assistance, to be useful 
for a few years before I go to my great account. I have much 
peace of mind in reviewing the last four months of my labors. 
They have been very busy ones, — and I think uprightly im- 
proved for the benefit of my fellow men on this island and over 
the water. I implore the Divine blessing upon my humble 
efforts to do a litde good, while seeking my health over moun- 
tain and valley of this enchanting island. With love to my dear 
children, to M., and I., and everybody, Yours, &:c. 



332 LETTERS PROM CUBA. 

LETTER LX. 

TO MRS E A 



May 22d, 1828. 

With Mr G. and Dr H. I crossed the bay, in a boat with 
an awning, and ascended the hill on which the immense fortifi- 
cation of the Cabanas has been excavated and built. Our 
passage occupied, I should think, no more than five minutes. 
A vast number of vessels lay at anchor on the north side of the 
bay. They are not permitted to load on the city side, because 
they are limited for room. They take the goods on board in 
lighters. Some part of the suburb, Casa Blanca, extended 
itself quite to the spot where we landed. We ascended a steep 
hill slowly, and my companions, wishing to produce an agreea- 
ble surprise, objected to my looking round, before I came to 
the foot of the Cabanas. The view from that spot is charming. 
The whole city and bay are spread out before you, with Regla 
on the southeast, and the suburbs on the southwest extending 
farther than the eye can descry. The Punta fort just without 
the gates, and the fortification which lines the city shore, with 
the Governor's palace, and the plaza de armas, seem to lie at 
your feet. The city is a glittering object, with walls and houses 
of chalky whiteness, painful to the eye when the sun is running 
his vertical course. 

We soon opened the vast excavation between the first line 
of fortification, and the hill which slopes to the northeast. 
Both are cut and formed nearly perpendicular; and, to enjoy a 
view from the highest accessible point without the fortification, 
we ascended a long and tedious flight of steps, cut about a yard 
into the perpendicular rock. As the steps were without guard, 
we leaned prudently towards the rock, and at length stood on 
the crest of the natural hill ; the opposite fortification rising suf- 
ficiently above us to command the whole ground to the sea. 
From this point, we could distinctly see the populous village of 
Guanamacoa. 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 233 

On this natural hill, a little shaped, but not fortified, we walked 
a considerable distance, and descended another longer flight of 
steps into the vast fosse between hill and fortification. Over 
this ditch we at length came to the bridge, which leads from 
the hill to the superb entrance into the fortification, which is 
furnished with a draw, raised by balanced levers, if we could 
judge by looking from a distance. Tlirough a little town near 
the draw bridge, which we supposed a convenient settlement to 
aid in the comforts of the garrison, we passed to the end of the 
Cabanas. The len2:th of this immense fortification is estimated 
at three quarters of a mile. The breaddi of the ditch varies, 
we judged, from fifty to a hundred feet. The cannon were 
fixed on the summit with embrasures, so constructed as to rake 
in every necessary direction. There were apertures, as in 
gaols and penitentiaries, to admit light and air, but there ap- 
peared no portholes to thrust out a second tier of guns. 

This, however, is a bird's-eye view of but one range of this 
vast fortification. There are tv.'o more which run parallel wiih 
it, with similar excavated ditches between tliem ; and the cen- 
tral range is higher than the others, and its shot passes over 
them. That range of fortification which fronts the city is lo- 
cated on ground so precipitous and rocky, and so close to the 
water of the bay, that it needs no ditch. 

With this very imperfect and exterior view of these fortifi- 
cations, we can judge someihitig, at least, of the extent of the 
interior. It is, indeed, a populous town, and has accommoda- 
tions for from 15 to 30,000 men, to lodge, and board, and fight. 
As we passed the end of one of the fortifications, the spacious 
door lay open, and we had a glimpse of handsome arrange- 
ments within, resembling houses and lighted streets. It was 
then the time of twilicrht. 

o 

The labor and expense of this immense fort have of course 

been vast. We must not talk of the square feet, nor of the 

square rods, which have been excavated in the solid rock, and 

reared of massy stones above it. There are miles of this as- 

30 



234 LETTERS rHOM CUBA. 

tonishing work. It is difficult to ascertain on authority the ex- 
pense of the fortification. It is the policy of the government 
to hold silence on these subjects. The sum which rumor states, 
is from thirty to forty milllions of dollars. 1 have heard 7iinety 
mentioned. The king, it is stated, on learning the cost, shrewdly 
or simply asked whether the Cabanas were made of silver. 

It has been said that the Cabanas is connected widi the 
Moro by an underground passage, that each may minister fresh 
troops or a retreat, as they may severally need them. We 
could discover no external sign of such connexion. They are. 
we judged, about one eighth of a mile apart. We passed on 
to see the Moro. It stands on a continuation of the hill of the 
Cabanas, at the narrow mouth which opens into the harbor ; 
and is washed and almost undermined on two sides by the sea. - 
And on a third side, where a deep and broad fosse has been 
excavated in the rock, the sea dashes in. We judged this for- 
tress to be a hundred feet high ; of its other dimensions we 
could not well form an estimate. 

In returning, we passed under the frowning walls of the 
Cabanas ; and, seen by the light of the moon, almost over our 
heads, it had a romantic appearance, like poetic descriptions of 
baronial castles. 



LETTER LXL 

TO MISS E A — 



Havana, May 23d, 1S2S. 
With a friend, in a volante, we sallied out of the Montserrat 
gate, guarded, as the gates always are, by soldiers, and entered 
the suburbs, and crossed the bridge over the Zaguan, a small 
river with a full and constant current, which has been brought 
through the suburbs, and into the city, at a moderate expense, 
and with infinite advantage to the inhabitants of both. I see 
these waters spouting into large basins in the city, and sporting 



LETTERS FROM CUBA> 235 

in jets. It waters the gardens of the Campos Santos, and iha 
extensive enclosures of the Botanical Institution ; and a rill of its 
waters runs through the squares and extensive buildings of the 
Casa de Beneficiencia. It is quite a shame that the streets of 
the city should be filthy, offensive, and almost pestilential, wlien 
water with a sufiicient height and column for the purpose, might 
be flashed over the whole pavement of the city. 

We travelled near the beach, and inhaled the fine breeze 
which is dashing the waves against the shore. We passed by 
the Lazaretto and the Insane Hospital, which appeared to be 
enclosed by a handsome new wall, as if they were one institu- 
tion ; but they are perfectly distinct. Close to the latter is the 
Campos Santos, the particular object of our visit. 

The inscription and painting over the entrance are striking. 
In the centre, a-t the top, is a well executed picture, emblemalic 
of death, and of the consolation a Christian may derive from a 
look into futurity. On the left hand is a widow shrouded in a 
veil, with Hymen's torch in her hand, reversed, and the dust 
extinguishing the flame. In the same compartment is the wi- 
dow, without the mourning weeds, but with a grave and intense 
look, resting her arm on a circle, the well known emblem of 
eternity. 

At the left hand of this compartment is another, with a female 
figure and the emblems of faith ; a cross and a Bible. At the 
right hand is anothsj- female figure, with one hand resting on the 
Bible, and the other on a staff, round which a snake is entwined, 
his head near the hand, regarded by her .3 harmless. 

On the tablet below these paintings, is the following insciip- 
tion :- — 

A la Religion. 

A la Salud Puhlica. 

El Marques de SomerueloSf Juan de Espada^ 

Guhernador. Obispo. 

We passed through the humble chapel, where, in ordinary 
cases, the service for the dead is performed, into the burial 



236 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

ground ; and walking on the paved aisle, we crossed to the 
opposite side, where is a second beautiful chapel for the last 
rites of the opulent and charitable. On the front of this build- 
ing is inscribed — 

Ecce nunc in pulvere dormiam. Joh. 7. 

Et ego resuscitabo cum in novissimo die. John. 16. 

We advanced to a grating, and on the wall of the interior front- 
ing us, we saw a well executed painting, illustrative of the above 
inscription. On the lower part of the wall is a scene of death. 
An aged man, ready, like Jacob, to give up the ghost, with a 
solemn but placid and resigned countenance, seems uttering to 
his family, weeping around him, the words of Job. Then, 
above it, is a resurrection scene, the angel blowing the last 
trump, and a pious family rising out of the tomb, showing ful- 
filled the words of Christ in the second line o6 the inscription. 

We passed thence to a corner of the yard to examine the 
inscription on the shaft mentioned in a former letter. The 
words on the obelisk were — 

Exultabunt ossa humiliata. 
The same were inscribed on each of the four shafts at the cor- 
ners. We were a little at a loss for the precise intention of 
this motto, before we observed a litde enclosure at the corner^ 
made by a neat wall about six feet high, running circularly. 
On looking over the wall, we observed skull bones and other 
human relics lying in water, thus accelerated in their hasty pro- 
gress to undistinguishable dust. 

This part of the Bishop's plan was conformable to the 
Spanish custom, throwing the bones of a re-opened grave into 
a common heap. At the same time it displays a kind respect 
to decency and to human feeling, human weakness, if you will, 
by drawing a veil over the scene, and by a soothing allusion to 
a glorious resurrection. 

The Bishop has left nothing undone which might bring 
public sentiment to accord whh this important change in the 
disposition of the dead. In the passageway through the first 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 237 

chapel he has hung up, printed neatly in large letters on paste- 
board, a suitable inscription. 



LETTER LXII. 

Havana, May 23d, 182S. 

We have a fine Norther agitating the bay of Havana, and of 
course shaking from its wings the blessing of heahh on the poor 
seamen, broiling usually under the southern side of the bold hill, 
on which the Cabanas is built. This is peculiarly fortunate for 
me, as, just at this moment, there is no vessel in which 1 can 
embark. It is as comfortable where I am, as in the country, 
and all my friends judge it quite as safe. Besides reasons given 
in the other letter sent by this opportunity, it is a serious objec- 
tion to embarking in the Transit, that she has been condemned, 
and has a molasses cargo, said to be intolerable to a fresh w^ater 
sailor. There are other vessels soon to sail, in one of which, the 
earliest, if it be a safe and healthy one, it is my intention to 
embark. 

There is a singular complaint rather prevalent in the city, 
called dingue, a sort of influenza, more troublesome than dan- 
gerous. I hope not to be disturbed by it — it usually lasts but 
two or three days. This morning, a Captain C, from Salem, 
died in the harbor. He seems to have thrown his life away, as 
he needed, but would have no physician or assistance of any 
kind. I hear of no sickness in the city but the dingue, — nor in 
fact in the bay. These circumstances, I hope, will render you 
easy in mind about your husband. 

You must excuse me this morning with a short letter, as I 
am engaged in drawing up an account of my visit to the Ca- 
banas yesterday, and a second visit to the Campos Santos. 1 
rise in the city, as in the country — go out early — stay in when 
the sun is high. They think me the very pattern of prudence 



238 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

here, and think, if I should spend the summer in Havana, there 

is, for me, no manner of danger. 

^- -i^ ^ 

I have this morning been to the Governor's to obtain a pass- 
port, to be ready to take the first passage which offers. But 
his Excellency, having the dingue, does no business. 

I forget whether I mentioned the music of the Cathedral in 
my letter hastily written when I was in Havana before. It was, 
by a very great difference, the best I have ever heard. The 
organ, I suppose, was well played, but I might almost say I did 
not hear it; I was so engrossed by the vocal performers. I 
am anxiously inquiring for a further chance to hear such music. 
1 hope to hear some this afternoon, but there is doubt. To- 
morrow is with them the day of Pentecost, and there will be 
music again. At Matanzas I heard military music in mass ; 
and I believe, stated the circumstance in letters written there. 
At seven tomorrow, in the church of the Dominicans, there 
will be similar music. I shall endeavor to hear both. 

The Bishop of Havana is a very respectable man, and does 
a great deal of good with his $110,000 per annum. I was 
gratified with a sight of his reverence this morning, taking the 
air in his volante. His equipage was a single horse, his volante 
a little more adorned than ethers ; — his person large and noble ; 
a fine countenance for an old man ; and some tokens of office 
upon his person. Probably we saw his V^icar-General riding 
with him. We were then returning from an examination of 
some of his humane and liberal works, and were gratified to 
see the man of whom all tongues in the island speak in the 
highest terms. 

But I forget, when I am writing to you, that I have business 
more grave to attend to, certainly, however, not more pleasant. 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 239 



LETTER LXIII. 



TO MRS E- 



Havana, May, 1S28. 

I PROPOSE in this letter to send you a description of some of 
the most striking trees, and of some of the fruits of Cuba — 
Ldia or Frangejmne, a small tree, about twelve feet high, and 
regularly ramified. A tuft of superb flowers appears at the end 
of the branches before the leaves start from the bud. The 
flowering buds belonging to each tuft are very numerous, fifty or 
sixty in a cluster, of which from ten to twenty are open at once, 
quite as gay as so many tulips. Each flower has five petals, 
and opens three inches and a half wide ; the flower opens of a 
deep red, and it fades slowly into a faint and beautiful yellow. 
The leaves are of a deep green, and beautifully veined. 

Dctquilla, or Lace-wood, wood yielding lace. It is a small 
tree. The largest a negro brought home, gone a day on the 
mountain in search for it, was three quarters of an inch in diam- 
eter, and twelve feet high. Mr Rubio Campos, of the Marian- 
na, has seen it as large as his arm. It runs high in proportion 
to the size of the stem, the leaf is large, it has few limbs. It is 
probably an exceedingly fine species of the Majagua, of which 
ropes are made, and twine for fences. 

In obtaining this elegant vegetable lace, of which a Marquis 
of the island prepared frills for a set of shirts presented to the 
King, a knife is carefully run down the bark, which is pealed 
off in one piece. To separate the different lamina, which are 
considerably numerous, some think not less than twentyfour, 
the bark of die end nearest the root is bruised with a mallet, 
and each lamina drawn from the inner side. It is then with 
delicate fingers gradually opened and spread, and a stick of 
three quarters of an inch diameter, w^ill yield a piece of lace 
ten or twelve inches wide, strong and white, and fine, and as 
beautiful, I might almost say, as Brussels. 



240 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

The Rose Apple. It grows on a tree as large as a common 
apple tree. The flower is a tassel of white threads, hanging 
from a calyx of four leaves, showy like the fringe tree of Car- 
olina. The fruit is round, an inch and a half in diameter. 
Broken, it contains two large seeds like hazel nuts, flat on one 
side, and poisonous. The pulp, covered with a tender, cream 
colored skin, tastes and smells like a conserve of roses. It is 
generally eaten, but is rather indigestible. It is best to extract 
the juice of it in the mouth, as prudent people do of the cocoa- 
nut meat, and throw out the substance. 

Travelling in the plantation volante road, skirted for miles by 
a broad winding lime hedge, I discovered a parasitical plant, 
evidently belonging to the genus of the pine-apple, adhering to 
a principal limb. The leaves, of a purplish green, contain 
about two glasses of water. For its flowers, it shoots up a su- 
perb stalk, as red and as gay as the coxcomb of our gardens. 
The top of the spike a foot high, sends out a dozen braids 
of red leaves, alternating one above another. Each of these 
braids has a number of small purple flowers, resembling those 
on the melon cactus, furnished with stamens and pointal. It is 
altogether a beautiful plant. I wish it could be got to Cam- 
bridge. 

Cacao. This tree is very interesting to agriculturists of a 
tropical country. In addition to what was said in a letter to A. 
of the 30th of April, I observe that the tree is ornamental. 
The leading shoot is stopped, after sending out two radiations 
of branches. The tree, however, grows large. At eight years 
old it yields a hundred and seventy melons, a term which I use 
for want of a better. Eacli of these melons contains an ounce 
of cacao seeds dried for the market ; and each of them would 
sell for 12 1-2 cents for forming nurseries. Thus a tree eight 
years old yields $37,40. In three years Mr P. expects to 
make 500 quintals, worth from f IS to 25 per quintal. 

Mr P. has seen trees on the estate of the Marquis of Beytia, 
as large as the Aguacarte. He states that there are two kinds 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 241 

of cacao; the one most common in South America, is with a 
flattened seed. The species which he raises is much better, 
and in form more like the piea nut of New Orleans. 

The cacao is in bearing all the season, but it yields most in 
May and December, and grows largest in the rainy season. 
On the 30th day of April, I saw it upon the stock, and in flower. 

Mr P. observes that the tree loves a northern aspect, and 
cool situations. This seems to inumate that the tropical sun is 
rather too intense. Why then may it not grow in S. Carolina, 
where in the interior they are anxious to find a crop for grounds 
which yield little profit in upland cotton. 

Sweet oranges do pretty well in some situations in S. 
Carolina, and they are tender. Perhaps cacao may be even 
more hardy. 

Very litde labor is required for the culture of cacao : plant — 
prune — clean ; gather and break the melon ; the seed comes 
out easily, is easily and quickly dried on the barbecues already 
prepared for coffee. The seed should remain two days in a 
heap. It should then be gradually exposed to the heat of the 
sun, and the article is ready for market. 

The melon of the cacao is six or eight inches long, and eight 
or ten in circumference, with swells like a muskmelon, and the 
blossom end projecting like a lemon. 

Fruits of Cuba. 

Oranges, in very great plenty and variety ; some almost as 
large as shaddocks. They are sold on plantations for from 
$1,50 to 2,50 per thousand. A barrel will hold about 400. 

Pines. This exquisite fruit is, easily raised, and will yield 
about 3,000 to the acre. 

Zapoie, of two kinds; esteemed the most delicious of fruits. 
Tastes very sweet; a little gritty. Tree beautiful. 

AUgator Pear, or Aguacarte, vegetable marrow. 

Mamey Colorado. Lofty tree — fruit size of a goose egg, 
and valuable. 

Mamey of St Domingo. Beautiful tree, a cone running high, 
31 



242 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

and full of branches ; leaf resembling that of the Magnolia 
Grandiflora. Fruit, size of a melon, — fine — superior to the 
other. 

Melon fruit, or Papaya. It grows on a tree in clusters at 
the top. 

Mango. Of two kinds ; by some esteemed the best fruit on 
the island ; taste resembling a nutmeg melon. The trees are 
large, bushy, and full of foliage, and make the most beautiful 
avenues. Riding or walking under its thick green canopy is 
delightful even at noon day. 

Guanavana, Sour-sop. Fruit acid ; cooked, it is almost 
cranberry sauce. 

Chicota, resembles a summer squash ; grows on a vine. 

Guayaba. Of this the finest jelly is made. It is eaten as 
it comes from the tree, but not generally liked. 

Bread-fruit. From the Sandwich Islands. Straight, with 
a broad and deeply indented leaf. Fruit of the size and shape 
of a large shaddock. 

Cimela. The fruit forms, and when it is ripe the leaves 
come out, in June. 

Sage-tree, or bush. Leaf considerably like the garden sage. 

Date-tree. Resembles the cocoa-nut tree ; trunk full of 
thorns, small at bottom, swells larger at top. Leaves like palm, 
but smaller, and prickly. Fruit, size of a hazelnut, tastes like 
a cocoanut. 

Cereza. Cherry — grows on limb and trunk. An excel- 
lent preserve — tart like gooseberry. 

Sagu. Ornamental plant of the richest dark verdure, and 
in form a semi globe ; a small white flower like the snow-drop. 



LETTERS FROM CUBA, 243 

LETTER LXIV. 

TO MRS E ~ A . 



Havana, May, 1S2S. 
* * ^ 

I WISH to say a few words on the subject of the music of the 
Negroes. They have sundry simple instruments, which tliey 
make themselves, according to their nation. 

The Congoes have an instrument which they call bamba. 
It is a stick of the size of a thumb, bent into a bow. It is split 
at the ends, and a stran o( cane, which grows on the bank of a 
laguna, of which baskets are made, the stran about a quarter of 
an inch wide, is secured in the split end of the stick, and 
wound two or thre@ times spirally round it, — extended across 
the bow, and secured in the same manner at the other end. 
It is quite tight. 

Then one end of the single string is brought to bear within 
the lips, and a slender stick is struck against it, and the other 
end is held by the other hand, with a case knife or stick bear- 
ing against it, and withdrawn from it, by turns. Tlie part ap- 
plied to the mouth seems to be affected by the tongue and 
breath, like a Jewsharp. A small variety of tones of consider- 
able sweetness is thus obtained. But concords are out of the 
question, and the notes make no regular melody. They keep 
fine time by this instrument, and they dance to its tones, as 
well as to the strokes of their rude drum. 

The Mandingos have an instrument a little more complica- 
ted ; a box, nine inches long, three broad, and two and a half 
deep, with a square hole for the sound to escape. 

On the upper side six reeds of unequal length are confined 
by twine in the middle, and elevated by two slight bridges 
placed midway from the part confined, to the ends. The mu- 
sician sits on the ground, and plays with his fingers, with con- 
siderable variety of notes, which across the batey are heard 
with pleasure by cultivated ears. 



244 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

The negroes have an accurate ear, and great quickness to 
learn, in some cases when exceedingly stupid about other nnat- 
ters. With the advantage of good instruments, they discourse 

excellent music, 

* * ^ * 

Black bands, as well as white, play on the Passas, in the 
suburbs of Havana, 



LETTER LXV. 

TO MRS E A 



Off the Fi^orida Coast, May 28th, 182^. 
Since my last letter my plan has been pretty materially 
changed, as prudence, I am convinced, required. My last 
letter, if I recollect, gave you reason to expect that I should sail 
for Philadelphia or New York ; and I have taken passage in a 
Charleston packet. This I was reluctant to do, on various ac- 
counts, and possibly it may take a little more time. My sole 
motive was to make the earliest escape from Havana. It was 
sickly in that port. The day before 1 sailed, the mate of a 
Providence vessel, I saw passing to his grave on the stranger's 
hearse, without a friend to follow him. The captain of the 
same vessel and all the hands were sick. The (ew days I was 
in the city, kind Providence so ordered it that there was a con- 
stant norther, which is both comfortable and a great security 
against the fever. The evening before I sailed, the wind 
changed and blew over the bay, the Dead Sea of Havana, as 1 
may call it, and brought into the city a very unpleasant smelly 
from wliich it was very difficult to separate the idea of danger. 
Four stories high, I was ready to think myself secure, but I 
found it necessary to retreat from the current, even at that 
height. Besides the fever in the bay, there is another most 
singular disease endemic in the place, which they call the dingue. 



LETTERS FROM CUBA. 245 

In some measure it resembles the influenza, which at different 
times has spread over our country. But it has symptoms pe- 
culiar to itself. It is a disease chiefly of the bones. It cripples 
its subjects in hands and feet. You would think that half the 
city had the gout. The ancles swell, and are livid ; the muscles, 
or bones, or both between the ancle and the calf, are much af- 
fected. Many of the subjects are laid up at once, and confined 
in bed. And whole families have been seized at the same time, 
servants and all, to the number of thirtytwo and thirtyfive, as I 
have heard particularly mentioned ; so that they have been in- 
debted to neighbors for food and nursing. The physicians also 
began to croak and predict that the dingue was retiring to give 
place to a more mortal disease, the cholera, such as has appeared 
in India. The grounds of their opinion I have not ascertamed. 
The dingue has prevailed in other islands of the West liidies, 
and on the south side of Cuba, and at Matanzas; and perhaps 
in some of those situations it may have been followed with 
cholera. These circumstances, however, I thought deserved 
consideration 5 and as a day or two might make an important 
difference to me, and there was no chance for several days to 
sail for New York, I embarked for Charleston with Mr G., who, 
I am inclined to believe, leaves Havana at this time chiefly on 
account of the circumstances above detailed. When we had 
taken our resolution, we had passports to obtain. And on re- 
pairing to the Captain General's palace for the purpose on Sat- 
urday, he had the dingue, and could do no business. This was 
distressing, as Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday were f f days 
when no business is done. Mrs I. and family w^ere in the same 
predicament, and influential friends made exertions for us all to 
have passports given on Sunday. Thrice on this day we re- 
paired to the Government house ; the clerks refused at first, as 
the Captain General had appointed no deputy ; but after much 
management, we obtained a permit to pass the Moro castle, and 
went on board at six o'clock, Monday morning, and at seven 
passed the Moro with a fine breeze, and left fever, cholera, and 



<^46 LETTERS FROM CUBA. 

dingue behind us, — except that the poor captain has it in the 
latter stages of the complaint. He is a stout, robust man, and 
without any disease for twentyfour years, the bigger half of his 
life. But he groans under the pangs and disabilities of the 
dingue. He has livid spots on his fingers, and ancles, and feet. 
For two or three days he could not get a stocking over his foot ; 
and could only scuff about the deck with his naked toes in his 
shoes, and now and tlien speaking words he should not, though 
he is called a very clever man, in the American sense of the 
word. We rejoice the more in our escape from Flavana, as the 
two days we have been out have been excessively hot. We 
have great reason for gratitude to God for all his goodness. In 
reviewing my residence in Cuba, I can see nothing but an un- 
interrupted series of divine benefits conferred on a wandering 
invalid. I have found the most surprising hospitality in the 
whole extent of my journeying. Mr B. was kind and generous, 
and so have been others who were entire strangers. To Dr M. 
I am as much indebted as to any man in Cuba. " 1 was a 
stranger, and he took me in, — sick, and he visited me." I 
have passed much time at his house, because It was a healthy 
spot, and adapted to excursions of observation ; and because he 
is intellectual, well informed and conimnnlcatlve, a noble and 
liberal minded man, and a man accessible to religious thought. 
It is remarkable that on Cuba affairs we to a surprising degree 
]ump In judgment; and having often to make up my mind on 
important subjects, it has been a great confirmation and comfort, 
that he has been struck with the soundness of my opinions. 

Yesterday we had but little wind, and intense sun, and an 
awning v^as but feeble shelter. This is the third morning, and 
the wind is fresh, but not fair. The current Is carrying us along, 
so that we hope in six or seven days to reach Charleston. 
Yesterday we had a beautiful sight of dolphins, a dozen or more, 
but did not succeed in catching any of them. This morning a 
lusty turde paddled along in sight of us, and the lovers of turtle 
soup on board cast a wishful eye upon him ; but he soon dived 



LETTERS FKOM CUBA. 247 

out of sight. I should think him two feet long. I shall leave 

this letter open for anything of interest which may further occur, 

and shall drop it into the post office on arriving in Charleston. 
•«■ -jf * 

May 29. We are making very little progress ; it is nearly a 
stark calm, and has been so these twenty hours. We last 
evening saw a fire on the Florida coast. This day one of the 
men darted a five pronged spear into the head of a dolphin ; and 
he was displayed to the passengers. Whether the blow killed 
him too suddenly, I cannot say ; but the exquisite change of 
colors in a dying dolphin, of which I have heard so much, in 
this case came short of my expectations. The fish in the water 
is very beautiful ; his motions are graceful like a swan, if I may 
compare a fish and a bird, — and he appears of the color of burnt 
sulphur. Out of the water he has rather a brassy hue, and is 
a litde spotted like a trout. He is thin, as if he had seen few 
flying fish for a month. His head is singularly formed, rising 
circularly above his mouth. 

•5? * * 

May 30lh. There is a fine change in our prospects since 
yesterday, 4, P. M. We have had a fine wind, and have beer^ 
going most of the time since, seven or eight knots by the log, 
and three or four by the current. We are in a fair way, if the 
wind does not chop round too far, to get into Charleston to-night 
or in the morning. The billows are white crested, and cheer- 
fulness reigns on board. My intention is, not to remain a day 
in C. if there be a vessel to take me northward. Having taken 
my leave of C, I was reluctant to return thither again. But 1 
cannot feel thankful enough that I escaped from Havana as I 
did. All my friends affirmed, that for a man of my years and 
cautious habits, there was no danger. But prudence forbids 
being needlessly in a city where fever prevails, saying nothing 
of the other diseases. On the wafer 1 am very well, and mv 
cough is almost extinct. O ! ! do indulge the hope that I am 
to be spared to labor a little longer in the vineyard, and in the 



248 LETTERS FROM CUBA, 

chosen spot where my tabernacle has now been twentyfour years 
pitched. Yesterday was the anniversary of my peace sermon 
before the Convention. 1 fear its gentle notes have not been 
echoed this year. There is no one thing that gives me so much 
pain, in returning to my beloved country, as to think of hs reli- 
gious dissensions. May the God of peace hush them, and for 
ever preserve my voice from notes of discord. 

Our prudent captain is taking in sail, thinking the wind too 
gusty for so many passengers, among whom are three ladies. 
I hope we shall reach our port in twelve, at farthest in twenty- 
four hours. Immediately on receiving this, write to me, and 
direct the letter to be left in the post office, New York ; or to 
the care of Mr C, the tourist, if you can recollect his address. 
It is long since I have heard from home. 

May 31st — Charleston. We have had a charming run, and 
arrived this morning at seven o'clock. The packet sails for 
New York on Monday, and I think I shall take passage on board 
of her, if she is not running over with passengers. Happy am 
I to touch my natal soil again, and I hope soon to revisit Aome, 
sweet home. My health on this passage has been fine^ and my 
cough almost extinct. I think, accidents excepted, between this 
and home, that you will think my general health quite as good 
as before my sickness, and that my cough is no more than I 
have had since my former return from the south. Blessed be 
God, the object of my absence has been attained to a much 
greater degree than my most sanguine friends could hope, 
* ^ * 

But I must hasten to adjust a few things here, and to secure 
my passage. Therefore with love to the family, and neighbors, 
and friends generally, Yours affection ately. 



APPENDIX. 



LETTER FROM DR M TO THE AUTHOR. 

Recompknsa, San ]SLa.rcos, Cuba, JVIay 18th, 182S. 

Dear Sir — I have received your favor, requesting in writing 
the account I have already given you in conversation, of the 
famous springs of San Diego ; and hope ray compliance will 
reach you before you sail. Those springs are 35 leagues from 
Havana, bearing west southwest. They have been analysed, 
and found to contain sulphurated hydrogen gas in very large 
proportion, sulphate of lime, hydroclorate of magnesia, and 
carbonate of magnesia. The temperature of the waters is 95 
de2;rees of Fahrenheit. 

The principal springs are two in number, — the Tigre, and 
Templado. They are very magnificent, and situated on the 
borders of the river San Diego, which has in its bed and borders 
very many smaller mineral springs. Each spring has its own 
basin, in which its waters are peculiarly strong, and in these for 
some complaints it is proper to bathe. From these basins they 
flow, and commingled with the river, fall into a large i^servoir, 
called here Fayla, At the periods of bathing this is more than 
twelve feet deep in the centre, and is 50 or 60 broad ; so that 
it is customary for men to swim in it. There are covered 
apartments, called ranches, in which the ladies bathe. 

This river has its course through a hilly and moderately fertile 
country, and runs over rocks of various colors, and during the 
rainy season the springs in its bed are from ion to fifteen feet 
beneath the surface. At this time all bathing is suspended. 
But it falls again in January, and is low enough in February for 
32 



250 APPENDIX. 

use, and conlinues low till the middle of May. The baths are 
strong in proportion to the lowness of the river. 

Having passed part of the months of February and March, 
1S27, at San Diego, for my health, I received a letter from the 
commanding officer of the section. Col. Miranda, requesting 
me to endeavor to ascertain and reestablish the once far famed 
spring called the Gallina, said to have been so hot that the 
feathers of a fowl would come off after being plunged in it for 
two minutes, as certainly as when put into scalding water. In 
virtue of this authority, I called on the local magistrate, who 
furnished eight negroes ; and the inhabitants went with me to 
show the spot where it had existed. The tradition among them 
was, that it had been destroyed many years ago, by a physician, 
who was of opinion that its violence bad occasioned the death 
of many. The place indicated was between two very large 
rocks. The men worked diligently all day in what proved to 
be a fissure in a large stone, losing itself under the head of a 
large rock. Nothing more could be discovered than the oozing 
of a fetid J colored water, seeming to have a bituminous substance 
on its surface, the taste of which was offensive, and it left a 
disagreeable odor, and unctuous feel on the hands. 

The bed and borders of the river are composed of cragged 
rocks, rendering it difficult for an invalid to pursue its course. 
I succeeded, however, in ascending the river about a mile, and 
in that distance I discovered eight springs, all of them marked 
by the gas constantly issuing from them, and a sulphurous ap- 
pearance on the rocky shores near to them, and all had a mine- 
ral tastey more or less powerful. 

The annual attendance at the baths of San Diego has been 
about seven hundred people 5 but this year I understand the 
number is vastly increased. So great is the confidence of 
government in the virtues of these waters, that every year it 
makes special arrangements to send a detachment of troops and 
seamen amounting to a hundred, sick of various diseases, for 
the benefit of the springs. It is to be regretted that the accom- 



APPENDIX. 25 i 

modations near springs of such value, are of inferior order. A 
number of badly constructed houses are occupied by the invalids, 
but a great part of the visiters live in ranches, inclosed sheds, 
for which they pay a high rent for the time of iheir stay, called 
the Temjmral, which is about forty days. Formerly it was 
usual for the visiters to take everything with them, even to their 
provisions ; but now there are taverns v>^here bed and board are 
to be obtained. 

The wonderful effects of these waters are seen in chronic 
rheumatism, paralysis, diseases of females, chronic ulcers, erup- 
tions, iiidoleiit tumors, old syphilitic affections, and some cases 
of dyspepsia. The efficacy of the waters has appeared almost 
miraculous ia relieving, stiffness of the joints, and inability to use 
the limbs. It is a common thing to see people arriving with 
crutches, and throwing them away before they have taken forty 
baths. 

An elderly man who had not been able to walk for ten years, 
was brought to the waters with great difficulty, and in fifteen 
days he began to use his legs, and in thirty he could walk up- 
right and without crutches. Joints so stitT that they appeared 
to me anchylosed were rendered supple by the judicious use of 
these waters. A baker, who had been overcome by working 
at the mouth of his heated oven, rushed to the door all bathed 
in perspiration, and was instantly deprived of the use of his 
limbs. After ineffectually using the remedies commonly em- 
ployed in such cases, he was promptly relieved by bathing in 
the waters of San Diego, and drinking them. 

The uncommonly large proportion of sulphurated hydrogen 
gas, contained in these waters, causes a degree of increased 
action to be felt very soon after the use of them is begun. It 
is usual that they have a laxative effect ; but if this fails, which 
is the case in many, they bring on a slight fever. Generally 
the first effect noticed is an increased perspiration, and then a 
sensation of itching on the skin, attended sometimes with an 
eruption throughout the surface. Many persons experience a 



252 APPENDIX. 

catarrhal affection, accompanied with irritation of the lining 
membrane of the mouth and throat. These symptoms of irrita- 
tion subside promptly when the patient experiences diarrhoea. 
There are some who in using these waters have this last com- 
plaint to a great degree ; in most it is inconsiderable, and almost 
always without pain, and the food not perfectly digested passes 
as in Lientery. 

From what has been said you will not be surprised to. hear 
that many people with inflammatory affections have unadvisedly 
used these waters, and have had the misfortune to see their 
diseases increase, and many times very painfully. Under these 
peculiar circumstances a large number has died at the springs. 
It is very requisite therefore that invalids should procure the 
advice of some physician particularly with these waters, before 
they repair to San Diego. For it is often very necessary that 
patients should use some gende medicine while they are at the 
baths. 

It must be always remembered that they are positively inju- 
rious in diseases of the lungs ; and that the effects of them are 
astonishingly great and salutary in inveterate cases of chronic 
rheumatisni, contractions of the limbs, and stiffness of joints. 

It is my hope to find an opportunity again to visit the waters 
of San Diego, in order to furnish a more exact account of them. 
In the mean time I submit these remarks to my friend, Dr Abbot, 
that he may dispose of them in such way as he shall think best. 
And in taking my leave of him, I beg him to be assured that I 
shall long retain the memory ^^ his visit, and that no expression 
of mine can exceed the high degree of respect and esteem I 
entertain for him. 

That God may grant you a safe and comfortable passage to 
your family, is the prayer of your very sincere friend, &;c. &c. 



APPENDIX. 253 



LETTER FROM E. W. S ,ESQ. TO THE AUTHOR. 

Santa Ana Plantation, May 12, 1828. 
I RECEIVED your letter of much interest, dated at the lee- 
ward ; you were then indisposed, and, as 1 inferred, principally 
from an over ardent wish to inform yourself of all matter of in- 
terest pertaining to this favored island. A letter from Mr C. also 
announced his indisposition, and no doubt from a similar cause. 
He sailed soon after for the north, but your destination remains 
to me yet a secret. Nevertheless, as you have sadly disap- 
pointed me in not returning to pass April and May with me, I 
hope you are at this moment safe home, — and as happy as 
your return must make all around you. 

I now turn, (with fears of disappointment to you,) to the pri- 
mary object of your letter, and believe me that I regret equally 
with yourself my inability to furnish the desired information, and 
for two reasons ; — -m the first place, I was not in the country at 
the time of the revolution among the blacks ; therefore my in- 
formation would be given on borrowed authority ; — secondly, 
to give such information I should subject both of us to great 
error, and consequent criticism ; for, without impeaching any 
one's veracity, it is a truth, that notwithstanding 1 have sought 
everywhere to be informed, scarcely two opinions are alike ; 
and this, no doubt, arises from the great confusion prevailing at 
the moment. I can only say that the whole plan was conceived 
in the utmost ignorance, beginning in the slaughtering of a 
dozen whites, and ending in a few hours by the slaughter of 
eighty or a hundred blacks, — showing to them palpably, how 
useless to contend for emancipation in a country where the offi- 
cial returns of the white population is several thousands greater 
than the slave. 

My dear sir, — while in Cuba, you must from your rapid 
movements and attention to passing events, have collected much 
information, — enough at least to prepare a work for publication 
without my humble assistance. To recount my own experi- 



254 APPENDIX. 

ence in Cuba for some years past, would be but to repeat what 
has been ah'eady made known to the public through the medi- 
um of some northern journals — but given anonymously to avoid 
criticism, or the least pretension to authorship ; — donH ridicule 
my modesty, but say, if only from charity, that the motive re- 
sembles the v/riter. 

I have just finished two views of the Santa Ana dwelling 
house, and, if possible, I will send you one of the high lands on 
the Yumuri. Since you left I have made great alterations in 
the rear of my house, although, I believe, premised before your 
departure. I should like much to sketch the whole in one 
view, but, as you know, I am without suitable paper, and mis- 
erably off for crayons to draw with ; this, added to a poor ca- 
pacity, makes the drawings I now send you, unworthy your 
acceptance. 

1 wish you had been with me on a late excursion to Santa 
Clara, distant, (to the eastern part,) about seventy miles to the 
windward. 1 know not if you understand our island phrases, 
but to be better understood, we went eastward, M'C. was my 
companion, and our object lands, which we found fertile and 
conveniently situated on the border of an inner basin, where 
vessels ride in safety, and every facility given for embarkation. 
At present scarce a footstep marks this region, which is here- 
after to become commercially important. The only produce, 
and which is exclusively confined to the savannas, consists in live 
stock, the arable land lying between this and the sea. These 
savannas extend upwards of twenty leagues, resembling a quiet 
ocean, not a hill or rise of ground to be seen, covered with 
herbage, and susceptible of cultivation. Small dwellings for 
tenantry who watch the cattle are occasionally seen along the 
road, — scarcely a black face to be met with, — showing plainly 
the bone and muscle we hold up as security against revolutions. 
I got more information of the interior on this excursion than 
during the time I have been in Cuba. You must go with me 
there, for one season in Cuba is not enough to cure a chronic. 



APPENDIX. 255 

We met with land birds of numerous varieties ; scarcely a gun 
had ever been discharged among theai. The Grulla, which 
stands four feet in height, were very numerous, caroling, as 
"ushers of the morn, the joyous day." There were no Palms 
on the plain, but the beautiful Palmetta I saw in immense 
groves. They are unlike those you have seen, having propor- 
tionate bodies like the Palm, and beautifully regular. I passed 
a beach fifteen miles long, and from half a mile to a mile wide, 
along the skirts of which I saw regiments of the deep pink Fla- 
mingos, moving in right lines in the order and dress of English 
soldiers. The waters of numerous ocean lagunas abound with 
the best of fish, and oysters that one eats hut for the name only. 

This day's ride would have resulted in our being benighted 
in the impenetrable v/ood, but for an occasional timber road 
which has contributed essentially to the construction of the 
great fabrics at Havana. We reached a watering place. It was 
dark, and our guide who was also our host, and proprietor of 
the lands, seven leagues wide, in ascending from the spring, 
was thrown backwards from his horse. I was one who assisted 
in raising him ; he seemed, and complained, as if a serious in- 
jury had befallen him. I refreshed him from the remaining 
stores with some liquor, to him before scarcely known, (I saw 
at his house neither spirits nor wine,) gathering strength, we 
placed him on his horse, and at ten P. M., after a ride through 
woods of twenty leagues, we reached home. The old man was 
taken from his horse to the bed by four persons. The next 
consideration was medical aid, but no doctor was living in the 
district. I asked him if he would take some medicine, as he 
seemed greatly distressed ; — he replied that he never took any, 
not even warm water. I was disposed to be useful, and recom- 
mended several simples for him, to his wife and numerous rela- 
tions about, as I thought, his deathbed. I felt his pulse and 
skin ; they were feeble and cold, and himself in hysterical 
screeches, calling out for relief; — but in the midst of this bodily 
pain, the old man turned on his side, asked for his pouch, drew 



/ 



256 APPENDIX. 

/ 

from it a cigar — then searching for his matchet and flint stone, 
deliberately lighted his cigar, and threw himself back on his 
pillow, and continued to groan at every whifF. With these in- 
terior inhabitants a cigar and a cup of coffee is to them better 
than the whole pharmacopoeia — the most simple diet suffices, 
and the whole dress consists of shirt and trousers — the ground 
or cot is to them alike ; better materials for soldiers I never met 
with. To their dress I should have added a rosary and cross, 
the spiritual shield to all bodily harm. 

Returning home, my good sir, I sat down to write you this 
letter, which in place of one * "e interesting please accept, and 
with it the very sincere esteem and regard of the writer, and of 
Lady Bright, as you used to call her. You must not let our 
correspondence rest, because I do not communicate what you 
wish me to. It would give me more pleasure to see you, than 
to hear from you ; but in absence of the person, please send the 
letter. Have you seen Mrs H. and others of our family ? You 
made a promise to that effect to oblige me. 

Our country is now luxuriantly dressed — my coffee fields 
rich in quantity, but you know the prices are execrable ; — if 
not a change soon, I shall seek one by beginning with sugar, on 
the borders of the above described savannas ; — but let me be 
hither or thither, I shall ever be glad to welcome my reverend 
friend within. 

Accept, dear sir, the continued regard and esteem of, &;c. &;c. 



^^m^ 



